Before I Fell
by Littlemisskrissy
Summary: Lily is insanely attracted to James Potter. She just can't help that she longs to be held in his arms. But the fact that he is an arrogant, insufferable toe-rag just turns her off. What happens when Lily realizes that she's been wrong about him all along?
1. Chapter 1 Diagon Alley

Author's Note: I do not own Harry Potter. If I didn't I wouldn't have to worry about paying back all the student loans I took out for college. *sigh* Wouldn't that be nice?

So, this is the first chapter. I hope you all like it!

* * *

Diagon Alley is the best place on Earth, Lily thought as she made her way through the archway that suddenly appeared before her. Maybe it was just the fact that she had been cut off from the wizarding world for two solid months over the summer holiday, but she felt a surge of excitement coursing through her at the thought of just being around other witches and wizards. Of course, her excitement could also be because she would be meeting up with her best friends, Hannah and Carrie, whom she hadn't seen in over a month. Her parents had insisted on taking a vacation as a family, seeing as it would be the last one before Petunia got married. Ugh, even thinking of Vernon Dursley made Lily shudder, so she decided to block all unpleasant thoughts out of her head for the rest of the day. She was determined to have fun before school started up again and she was swamped with N.E.W.T. prep.

Lily made her way down the cobbled street, looking at all the people milling about in cloaks, carrying their caldrons, owls, broomsticks, sacks of galleons and sickles from Gringotts, and books for the new term. A huge smile spread across her face as she realized that she was home. She was finally feeling like she fit in again. She loved being at her parent's home and spending time with _most _of her family, but she always felt a little like an outsider. Whenever she told her parents about things that happened at school, there were always so many things she had to explain. _You had_ _apparating lessons and Hannah splinched off a toenail? Butterbeer? Are you old enough to drink that? _But here she was in the place that she belonged. The place that she loved with people that she was so happy to see.

"Evans!" a male voice bellowed from her right, interrupting her thoughts. She didn't need to even look to see who was calling her. Well, there was at least one person in Diagon Alley that she wasn't happy to see. She grimaced and kept on walking, pretending not to hear him.

"Evans!" he yelled louder, not taking the hint. Lily ignored him again, knowing it wouldn't do any good. Why did he have to be in Diagon Alley the one day that Lily was there? It was like the universe was playing tricks on her!

"Oi, Evans!" he yelled again, even louder. Lily's cheeks turned red as several people passing by stopped to stare at the two of them.

"What do you want, Potter?" she yelled back, whirling around to face him. All of her breath nearly escaped as she set her eyes on him for the first time since last term. She tried her hardest to keep it all together despite the fact that she was now looking at the most attractive guy she'd ever seen. Potter had always been attractive, but the summer had only improved him. Potter looked tan and muscular, and his dimples were showing as he smiled down at her. One look was enough to make a girl go weak in the knees. If only he wasn't such an arrogant toe-rag!

"Oh, good, your ears do work. For a minute there I was worried that you'd lost your hearing over the summer," he said, smiling at her. She glared at him in response.

"I wish I had, that way I wouldn't have to hear all the stupid things that come out of your mouth" Lily shot at him. He just smiled, which infuriated her further.

"Nonsense, Lily! If you had lost your hearing you wouldn't be able to hear me ask you out again," he said, arrogant as ever, standing in the middle of Diagon Alley as if he owned the place.

"Oh, how would I be able to live the rest of my life without ever hearing you ask me out again?" Lily asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"It would be very tough, I'm sure. So, since I don't want to ruin your life, why don't I ask you to come with me to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor?" he said, attempting to be smooth. Those stupid dimples were showing again and Lily was disgusted that she had to shake her head to remind herself that she despised Potter before she said anything stupid.

"Oh, gee. I'm so sorry, Potter, but I already have plans. Too bad, because if I didn't…." Lily said trailing off just to mess with him.

"If you didn't?" James said with a warm smile on his face.

"Then I'd just have to say no without an excuse," she said, smirking back at him before turning around and stalking off in the direction of Flourish & Blotts to get her new school books.

"See you around, Evans," James called after her. She just kept walking, not bothering to respond.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Lily walked out of Flourish & Blotts with her new school books. The geek in her was dying to pour over her new books and look at what she would be learning over her last year at Hogwarts. She repressed this urge, however, and walked towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor where she was supposed to meet Hannah and Carrie. When she got there she saw them waiting for her at a round, metal table with a sundae in front of each of them. There was even a strawberry sundae in front of an empty chair across from Hannah.

"Aw, you guys shouldn't have," Lily said, sitting down in the empty chair and placing her bag of books under the table. She picked up the spoon and began licking the hot fudge off of it. Mmm. Chocolate. Lily hadn't had chocolate in months. Petunia wouldn't allow any to come into the house because she was determined to lose weight before her wedding.

"Um, actually, we didn't," Carrie said nervously, looking over at Hannah. Hannah avoided the gaze of both girls, busying herself instead with inspecting her fingernails.

"What?" Lily asked slightly distractedly. She was melting in the delicious taste of strawberries and chocolate.

"I knew you couldn't resist my offer." Lily's mouth froze on her spoon as she heard the voice. She shot her friends a glare that clearly said they would talk about this later.

"Potter, why are you following me?" Lily asked through gritted teeth. Really, hadn't she had enough of him for one day?

"The better question is, why are you eating my ice cream?" he asked, smirking again and leaning against the empty table next to them. He probably thought he looked cool doing that. Stupid Potter.

"_Your_ ice cream?" Lily asked, dropping the spoon onto the table and looking down at it as if it was diseased.

"We tried to tell you," Hannah said quietly. Lily just sent an angry look at her before turning her glare back to Potter.

"Relax, I didn't eat any of it yet," he said angrily.

"Oh thank God!" she said, picking up the spoon and digging back in. She picked at the piece of ice cream with the most chocolate.

"That doesn't mean that it's yours now," he said, rushing forward to grab it out of her hands.

"I already took a bite out of it. It's mine," Lily said, elbowing him in the ribs as he lunged for the ice cream. She was enjoying the chocolate and strawberry combination too much to give it up.

"I know," James said, his eyes lighting up. This couldn't be good. This was the same look he got on his face whenever he was performing a prank. Lily had seen that look way too many times to count.

"No," Lily said quickly.

"You don't even know what I was going to say. How do you know you wouldn't like it?" he said. He was standing awfully close to Lily now. She could just faintly smell the cologne he was wearing. It was slightly intoxicating and completely unnerving. Lily clutched the ice cream tightly in her palms so she wouldn't do anything stupid, like fling herself at him.

"Let me see. How do I know? Oh, maybe because it's something _you_ thought of!" she said.

"I'm offended. I was only going to suggest that we could share the ice cream. I mean, I did ask you to have ice cream with me, and not even twenty minutes later you show up here. I think someone really wanted to have ice cream with me," James said. Lily, however, had a gleam of her own in her eyes. Hannah and Carrie cringed, wondering what she was about to do. With Lily, it was always an adventure.

"You know, you're right, James," Lily said in a sweet voice.

"I am? I mean, of course I am." He couldn't help feeling slightly on edge. The Lily he knew would _never_ admit that anything James did was right.

"Yeah, I have always wanted to share an ice cream with you," Lily said, smiling up at him.

"Well, all you had to do was ask. Now, pass me the spoon," James said, reaching for it.

"Wouldn't it be better if I just fed you?" Lily purred. James's eyebrows went straight up under his hairline and he blushed slightly. Hannah and Carrie, who weren't being hammered with hormones, were able to see the direction this was heading, and sent warning looks at Lily, which she ignored.

"Um," he gulped, before composing himself, "if that's your dream, than I say you should go for it."

"Oh, thank you James," Lily said, "Open up wide!"

James opened his mouth and Lily started to bring it towards his mouth, but at the last second she turned it around and flung the ice cream into his face. It landed on his forehead where it instantly started melting down his face.

"Sorry, I guess I didn't feel like sharing after all," she said in an innocent voice.

For a moment James sat there in stunned silence, but it wasn't long before he grabbed Hannah's double chocolate sundae and started flinging ice cream at Lily. Lily tried ducking behind her chair, but the ice cream still hit her through the holes in the metal chair. Lily stood up and shot some more of her ice cream at James before grabbing Hannah and Carrie and making a run for it. But Evans had forgotten how fast James could be, because he loomed over her before she had even made it out of the outdoor eating area. Before she had time to react, he had dumped the remainder of Hannah's ice cream over Lily's head.

Fuming, Lily glared up at him as huge chunks of chocolate ice cream melted down her face. She was too furious to even bother wiping the ice cream out of her hair. James just smirked at her, shaking with laughter. Lily got angrier and angrier until she felt her body nearly go into convulsions. She wished that her glare alone could hex him. She made to reach for her wand, but Carrie grabbed her wrist.

"Lily, you can't hex him in the middle of Diagon Alley," Carrie said. Her voice shook as she tried not to laugh. Lily couldn't believe this.

"Breathe, Lily," Hannah said, stepping in front of her and attempting to block her vision of James. Lily did and she calmed down enough to realize that they were right. Hexing James in the middle of Diagon Alley was probably not the best idea, especially since she would be looking for a job in the wizarding community after this year at Hogwarts.

"Potter! You better stay away from me at Hogwarts because I'm Head Girl this year, and I can make sure you have detention every night for the entire year!" Lily bellowed at the infuriating boy.

"You're Head Girl?" James asked, smirking again.

"Yes, Potter. Are you surprised?" she asked.

"No, just very excited," he said.

"I'm not going to get you out of detention, Potter. And I will not turn a blind eye whenever you step out of line. I will get you for every little thing you do," Lily warned. Potter just smirked down at her.

"You just want an excuse to follow me around," he said, grinning arrogantly at her.

"Please, Potter. I would rather kiss Filtch than spend thirty seconds following you," she yelled.

"Eww, Evans. I never knew you had a thing for the grungy old men. No wonder you always turn me down!"

"Potter, get out of my sight!" Lily screamed. She looked around to see that everyone in the ice cream shop's outdoor seating area was staring at them. She blushed and attempted to cover her face with her long hair.

"For now, alright Evans. I'll go. But only because I have a feeling that you'll be seeing quite a lot of me pretty soon, so you better get used to feasting your eyes on me," he said, smiling wider before walking away, laughing to himself.

"How'd it go with Evans, mate?" Sirius asked, shaking with laughter as he stood outside of Quality Quidditch supplies. So he had seen everything, James realized. There would be no end to the teasing that was about to come.

* * *

"Great, Pads. We're eloping tomorrow," James said, falling into step with Sirius as he walked into the Quidditch shop. James eyed the SuperNova in the display window, wondering if it really was as fast as it said it was. Maybe he would just have to test it out.

"Really? Is that why she flung ice cream at you?" Sirius asked.

"Well, she was just so excited she forgot the spoon was in her hand," James said.

"You're delusional, Prongs, but I'm glad to see you're not taking the rejection too hard," Sirius said, looking at the Beater bats.

"With the amount of practice I've had, how else could I take it? Besides, I'm going to win her over eventually," James said confidently.

"And what give you that idea? She despises you!" Sirius said.

"Which is partially your fault!" James said.

"Oh, come on! I bet she doesn't even remember that!" Sirius said, laughing as he remembered Evans's super red face. She looked like she was about to blow steam out of her ears.

"We're talking about Evans here. She remembers everything, and she wouldn't soon forget climbing into bed and finding a blast-ended skrewt in it!" James said.

"Oh, come on! It was a great prank!" Sirius said, chuckling again.

"Maybe for you! You're not the one who woke up with screaming mandrakes all over your bed! I passed out and had to be taken to the hospital wing!" James shouted.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," Sirius admitted.

"But all that is behind me now, because I have figured out a way to win Evans over," James said.

"And how in the world are you going to do that?" Sirius asked.

"Well, what would you do if I told you that Dumbledore made me Head Boy?" James asked, turning to look at Sirius to see his reaction.

"I would say he had finally lost his mind," Sirius said, smirking at James.

"Well, maybe so, but I wouldn't say that to him," James said, smirking and fluffing his hair.

"You're serious? You're Hogwarts' new Head Boy?" Sirius said, a stunned expression coming over his face.

"No, _you're_ Sirius!" James shouted. It was lame, but it was a habit.

"Good one, Prongs," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "now get back to this insanity where we've entered an alternate universe and you were made Head Boy."

"Do look so shocked! Is it really that hard to believe that Dumbledore thought me the best candidate for the job?" James asked.

"Um, yeah. I can think of at least a hundred guys who would be picked before you. And half of them aren't even seventh years," Sirius said.

"Oh, shut up Padfoot. Regardless of my qualifications for the job, don't you see how great this is?" James asked.

"Of course I do. I mean, no more detentions for us, we can have all the parties we want, and we don't have to worry about being caught after curfew. We'll practically be running Hogwarts!" Sirius said.

"That actually wasn't what I was thinking. What I was thinking is even better! Do you know who the Head Girl is?" James asked, a beaming smile coming over his features.

"From that idiotic smile on your face, I'm guessing that it's not Snape," Sirius said, laughing.

"Funny. No, Evans is the new Head Girl, which means she'll have to live with me!" James said.

"Don't count on it Prongs. Once she finds out that you made Head Boy, she is going to hex you into oblivion before she allows you to share a common room with her," Sirius said. They had looked at everything in the Quidditch store so they turned towards Flourish & Blotts to pick up their books.

"She'll come around," James said.

"Are you sure about that?" Sirius asked.

"Once she realizes she'll get to see me walking around in a towel, she'll give in," James said, smiling arrogantly.

"Not everyone wants to see your scrawny chest!" Sirius said, pushing James.

"Are you kidding me? Scrawny? You must be talking about yourself!" James said, pushing Sirius back. Before long they were wrestling in the middle of the book store.

"Boys! Get out of my shop!" called the manager of the store from above them. He was wearing a rather angry expression on his face.

"Sorry," the boys called as they got to their feet. They grabbed their purchased books and walked out of the store. As soon as they got outside they burst into laughter.

"Some things never change," Lily called as she walked by with her two friends, shaking her head at the two boys. James saw her curly, red hair bouncing around her shoulders and her beautiful green eyes twinkling. He was once again struck senseless.

"Yeah, Prongs is still just as in love with you as he's always been!" Sirius said.

"Shut up, Padfoot!" James said, smacking Sirius on the back of his head.

"Great, now I'm going to be sick," Lily said, pretending to gag.

"Hey, Evans, how would you feel about living with Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Never! I'd rather live outside and freeze to death than live within ten feet of him!' she said, shuddering.

"I told you, Prongs," Sirius said, smirking at James.

"Shut your mouth, Black!" James said.

"What's going on here, Potter?" Evans asked, her hands on her hips and looking very stern.

"Nothing, Evans. See you on the train," he said, grabbing Sirius and steering him away before he could get James in any more trouble with Lily.

"That's not all you'll see of him. You'll get to see his scrawny chest a whole lot over the next year," Sirius called back loudly. James smacked Sirius in the back of the head again and dragged him away.

"Remind me to kick you off the Quidditch team as soon as we get back to school," James muttered angrily.

"What do you think Black meant?" Lily asked for the billionth time as she sat on her bed painting her fingernails, her best friends sitting around her. After they had finished shopping they had gone to Lily's house to spend the night.

"We don't know, Lily. Who knows what goes through his brain," Carrie said as patiently as she could.

"But he and Potter must have something planned. I mean, do you think Potter's going to slip me a love potion or try to make it so I can't walk more than five feet away from him?" she asked.

"Maybe Potter's the new Head Boy," Hannah suggested. All three girls burst out laughing as soon as she said it.

"Dumbledore would _never_ make Potter Head Boy!" Lily said, laughing just thinking about it.

"Never!" both girls agreed.

"So what are they planning?" Lily asked, almost to herself. Honestly, she didn't object to seeing Potter without his shirt on. Judging from his gorgeously muscled biceps, she knew that wasn't something she would mind seeing, but she wouldn't want anything to happen because she saw his bare chest.

"Lily, just forget about it. You'll make yourself go crazy if you keep thinking about it," Carrie said.

"As if she isn't crazy already," Hannah said.

"Hey," Lily said, throwing her pillow at Hannah.

The girls erupted into a spontaneous pillow fight and before long they were laughing and squealing so loud that Lily's mom came up to make sure everyone was ok. The girls all forgot about Black and Potter and their cryptic statements. Or at least two of them did. Lily still caught herself thinking about Potter without his shirt on several times over the evening, so she wasn't surprised when she found herself thinking about him right before she went to sleep. She really needed to get a grip on herself. It was a waste of time for her to even dream about Potter. He was a conceited, brainless toe-rag and no amount of muscles or dimples would change that fact.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you all liked the first chapter! Read and review on your way out and I will have the next chapter up really soon! I have the next two chapters written, I'm just going to edit the next one a bit and post it later tonight.

Happy FanFicing!

Love,

LittleMissKrissy


	2. Chapter 2 The New Big Head Boy

Author's Note: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would be on vacation somewhere tropical with air conditioning instead of roasting in a tiny dorm room without even a fan!

So, as I promised, here is the second chapter! Thanks to all of you who have followed and especially to OliveTreeHugger for the review! Enjoy!

* * *

The train was gleaming before Lily as she made her way through the barrier between platforms nine and ten at Kings Cross Station. She had just said good-bye to her parents outside the barrier, and although she was exited to get back to Hogwarts, she felt a little sad about not seeing her parents for the next few months. The sun shone down on her classmates who were clustered in groups clutching trunks and owl cages. It was a hot August day and as she searched through the crowd for her friends, she couldn't help but smile to herself. There was always something just so incredible about the train ride to Hogwarts, she thought to herself. After months away from the wizarding world, it felt like she was finally going home.

She had just spotted her best friends Carrie and Hannah standing near the entrance to the train and was about to make her way to them when she felt a hard shove from behind. Lily knocked into the handle of the trolley she had been using to push her trunk and toppled over it. She lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of her, and all she could think was that she was going to murder James Potter. He was standing over her looking arrogant as ever with his smirking smile. Or maybe that was her second thought. Her first thought was of Potter without his shirt on. She'd been having the same stupid dream of Potter carrying her out of a burning building without his shirt on for the past week. She stopped herself before she got too carried away. She knew too much to give in to those kinds of thoughts.

"I always knew you would fall for me one day," James said arrogantly, running his fingers through his hair, messing it even more than it already was. Lily was about to call it cute before she remembered. A deep frown fell over her features.

"The day I fall for you, Potter, is the day that I need to be checked into St. Mungos!" Lily shot from the ground. It wasn't quite as scathing as she had hoped it to be, but she was still recovering her breath. And her sanity.

"Maybe you should be sent there until you come to your senses and say yes to me," James said, that smirking grin that irritated her so much plastered over his face. He did, however, lean down and offer Lily his hand, which she pointedly ignored and stood up on her own.

"Potter," Lily fumed, unable to think coherently with anger building up in her body.

"Relax, Evans. It was a joke," James said, still smirking.

"Well, I don't have the time for this. I have people that I actually _want _to talk to," she said, walking towards Hannah and Carrie.

* * *

"Did you see that?" she fumed as she reached her friends. They masked their laughter as much as they could, but Lily still noticed.

"Lily, you and Potter are going to kill each other one day," Hannah said.

"Yeah, well let's just hope I kill him before he kills me," she said, turning to look at him. He and his Marauder friends were laughing and shoving each other. They were so immature! James caught Lily's eye and smirked at her. She didn't have to guess what he was thinking. He was no doubt thinking that she was obsessed with him. She shot him a frown and turned back to her friends.

"Can we talk about something else besides bloody Potter? He's all you ever talk about!" Carrie whined.

"That is not even true! I wouldn't waste my time even thinking about him! That troll thinks that every girl in our bloody school is in love with him! Well, I'll show him that he is the most foul, loathsome, boring," Lily protested loudly.

"And you're still doing it!" Carrie insisted.

"Fine, so what'd you guys do yesterday?" Lily asked, guiding her friends onto the train to find an empty compartment. She hovered their trunks behind them so she didn't have to lug them through the train. She saw several first years trying to do just that and smiled to herself, remembering when she was that age.

"My mum got really sentimental all of a sudden yesterday. She told me all about her seventh year and how she got together with my dad. It was kind of like you and Potter. They despised each other before!" Hannah said.

"I guess that means there's hope for you and Potter, huh Lily?" Carrie asked pointedly.

"Not in this lifetime! And I thought we weren't going to talk about him anymore," Lily said, finally finding an empty compartment and opening the door.

"Sorry, that was necessary," Carrie said, laughing.

"Then maybe it's necessary to say that things will finally work out between you and Sirius, Carrie," Lily said, laughing.

"Eww, I hate that pea-brained, immature, arrogant," Carrie began, getting more heated as she went on.

"And now you understand how I feel when you say I like Potter," Lily said.

"But you do," Hannah said quickly.

"I do not! Now please, let's talk about something else. I only have a few minutes before I have to go to the Prefect's compartment to meet the Head Boy," Lily said, a big grin plastered across her face.

"Who do you think it will be?" Hannah asked.

"The better question is, who do you hope it will be?" Carrie asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Jared Orson," Lily said, smiling as she thought about the gorgeous Ravenclaw Captain.

"Lily, that guy is as dumb as rocks. There's no way he made Head Boy," Hannah laughed.

"The question was who I hoped the Head Boy would be, and I definitely wouldn't mind sharing a bathroom and common room with Jared," Lily said, plopping down on the seat in the compartment.

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend?" Carrie asked. She had an amused expression on her face.

"Yeah," Lily muttered, remembering Amber, his highly annoying girlfriend.

"But maybe after a few nights of living with Lily, he would dump her," Hannah said.

"But he won't make Head Boy," Lily said, flopping back in her seat with a mock sigh.

"You better get going, Lily. You don't want to be late to meet the man of your dreams," Carrie said.

"Here's hoping that he won't be a troll!" Lily said, throwing the door to the compartment open and smiling at her friends once more before strolling down the hall to the Prefect's compartment.

"Good luck," both girls called after her.

* * *

Lily got to the Prefect's compartment and saw that it was empty. She walked in and took a seat, pulling out the book she had brought with her. She hoped the new Head Boy wouldn't be late all the time. Lateness was something that really annoyed Lily. Before long, Lily was sucked into her book and didn't hear the compartment door open. She didn't realize that anyone else was in the room until someone cleared their throat directly above her. She jumped instantly and without thinking smacked the boy in front of her in the head with her book. In her defense, she had been reading a murder mystery novel where the young Auror was being chased by the murderer. It was a very tense time to realize someone was looming over her.

"Oi! What'd you do that for?" Potter called from where he was standing, rubbing the side of his head. Lily had been ready to apologize repeatedly until she saw it was Potter. She just glared at him instead.

"If you don't want to get hit then you shouldn't try to scare people like that," Lily said, picking up her book and resuming her reading.

"I wasn't trying to scare you at all! I had been standing in front of you for five minutes," James said. The side of his head was really throbbing. If Lily had any interest in Quidditch he would bet that she would make a great beater.

"Well, if you're expecting an apology you can just forget it, because it was _your_ fault," Lily said, still pretending to read.

"Like I'd ever expect you to apologize for anything," James said, snorting in disbelief.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lily asked indignantly, throwing her book down and charging towards James.

"Nothing, just that if you ever admitted you were wrong about anything, I'd throw myself off the Astronomy tower in shock," James said, his eyes wide.

"Oh, please, let me help you," Lily said, pushing James on the arm. It was quite a shock when tingles ran up and down her arms at the contact with James. She stood next to him with her hands still touching his arm and she stared up into his gorgeous eyes and felt herself start to blush.

"How about you just admit that you've been wrong about me all along," James said in a joking tone to mask just how serious he was. He was under the same spell as Lily and he seemed unable to extricate his gaze from her emerald eyes.

"I," she began, her brain going fuzzy from the tingling that was now running up her entire body.

"You?" James asked, his smile widening. His Lily was finally on the verge of admitting that she had always liked him.

All of a sudden, the door to their compartment bust open and the Marauders and Lily's two best friends entered. Lily jumped back, grateful for the interruption. If her friends and those awful Marauders hadn't interrupted them, Lily was fairly sure that she would have done something she would undoubtedly regret for the rest of her life. James, on the other hand, was more upset than he'd ever been. Things were finally about to work out between the two of them and his friends had to just go and ruin it!

"Hey Lily, so who's Head Boy?" her friends asked simultaneously as they entered the room.

"You?" James repeated, entirely focused on Lily, hoping that she would ignore their friends and that they could continue where they had left off.

"I've never been wrong in my life, Potter, and I've certainly never been wrong about you! You are the most arrogant, inconsiderate git that I've ever met! Now get away from me!" Lily yelled at him.

"So I take it she isn't exactly thrilled. I told you, Prongs," Sirius said, chuckling to himself. He walked over to the bench and sank down on it. He lounged on it the way guys that think they're way too cool lounge on anything they're sitting on.

"I actually hadn't gotten around to telling her yet, Pads," James said, shooting a look that clearly said 'get out.'

"Oh, this is going to be good. I'm glad I didn't miss the big reveal," Sirius said, ignoring the daggers that James was staring at him.

"Too bad the trolley hasn't come by yet. Some chocolate frogs would make this moment even more perfect," Peter said, following Sirius into the compartment and attempting to lounge on the bench like Sirius but failing.

"Um, Pads, I think James wants us to leave," Remus, always the most considerate Marauder, said from where he was still hovering in the doorway.

"I've got a great idea, why don't you all leave? I'm waiting for the new Head Boy," Lily said, attempting to shoo the Marauders out the door. She didn't make the mistake of touching James again. Whatever had passed between them before must be avoided at all costs.

"He's already here," Sirius said, smiling at the fact that he was able to make the big reveal.

"Where? Oh, of course, Remus. I'm so glad you were made Head Boy," Lily began, walking towards him. Ok, so Remus wasn't Jared, and he _was_ a Marauder, but he was at least the most responsible Marauder. And he was sort of cute in a scruffy kind of way.

"Sorry, Lily, but I didn't make Head Boy," Remus said with a hesitant look on his face.

"Is he in the hallway then?" Lily asked.

"I'm afraid not, Evans," Sirius said, chuckling.

"Surely Dumbledore didn't make _you _Head Boy!" Lily said in a panicked voice, staring at Sirius in disbelief. Everyone in the room besides Sirius snorted.

"Is that really so hard to believe?" Sirius asked, pretending to be offended.

"Yes!" everyone shouted at once.

"Some friends you are," Sirius muttered to the crowd.

"Hey, don't you dare ever call me your friend, Black!" Carrie shot.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Sirius said.

"So, then, who is this mysterious Head Boy?" Hannah asked.

"I'll give you a hint, it's someone in this room," Sirius said, smirking again.

"Peter?" Lily asked. Sure, the boy was kind of pathetic and spineless, but Peter would be a lot more tolerable than Potter, the only other boy in the room.

"No," Peter said, laughing a shaky laugh.

"So that leaves," Carrie began, trailing off once she saw the murderous look on Lily's face.

"Potter!" Lily screamed, whipping around to face him. In all the frenzy of activity, James had hung back, still absorbed in thoughts about what had almost happened between him and Lily.

"Hi there, Evans," James said, smiling down at her.

"Don't give me that! Please tell me your friends are joking," Lily pleaded.

"Sorry, Evans. I'm Head Boy. I even have the badge to prove it," he said, taking it out of his pocket. Sure enough, Lily saw that he held the Head Boy badge in his hand.

"How could this happen to me?" Lily asked, sinking onto the floor and covering her head with her hands. Hannah and Carrie sank down beside her and put their arms around her shoulders.

"It could be worse Lily," Hannah said cheerfully. She was the quietest of the group but she was also the most optimistic.

"How?" Lily asked.

"It could be Snape," Carrie suggested. Lily shuddered, remembering the last interaction she had had with her old best friend.

"I guess Potter is slightly better than Snape," Lily agreed, although this thought didn't cheer her up a whole lot.

"You guys do realize that I'm right here and I can hear what you're saying," James said.

"You're right, Lily, he is rude and arrogant!" Carrie said loudly.

"You should talk," Sirius began.

"Excuse me, Black. Don't make me even start on you. I don't want to have to spend the rest of my life saying all the insults that apply to you," Carrie yelled.

"Wow, sounds like someone's a little obsessed with me," Sirius said, smirking down at Carrie.

"Black, get out of my sight before I push you off the train!" Carrie threatened, jumping up from the floor.

"You know what your problem is? You always have to be in everyone else's business! Just let Prongs and Evans work it out themselves," Sirius bellowed.

"Oh, because you never get involved in other people's business!" Carrie yelled, practically in Sirius's face.

"Oi! That's enough you two!" James cut in, trying to pull Sirius away from Carrie.

"Shut it, Potter!" Carrie screamed at him.

"Don't yell at Prongs! It's you that has the problem!" Sirius yelled at her.

"Carrie, Black, stop it!" Lily said quietly, putting a hand on Carrie's arm, trying to get her to calm down.

"It's not me that has the problem! It's you!" Carrie screamed, ignoring Lily.

"Alright, everyone but Evans, get out! Right now!" James said, grabbing Sirius's arm and dragging him towards the door.

"Lily? You're not going to let him kick me out, are you?" Carrie asked.

Lily sighed, feeling frustrated. There were too many things going on right now for her to worry about Carrie and her issues with Black. It probably would be easier to deal with this Potter situation if Carrie wasn't there to remind her how much she hated him.

"Carrie, maybe Potter is right?" Lily began seriously, but the end of the sentence came out as more of a question. Carrie stared incredulously at Lily, daring her to think about what she had just said.

"You did not just take Potter's side over mine! You hate him!" Carrie turned on Lily.

"Carrie, come on," Hannah said, grabbing her arm.

"I'll see you guys later," Lily said, feeling miserable now that Carrie was mad at her. Carrie and Lily both had such stubborn temperaments that whenever they got into a fight, it was always a while before they made up and went back to being friends.

"Don't expect me to save you a place at the Gryffindor table," Carrie said, slamming the door as she stomped down the hallway.

* * *

Lily curled her arms around her legs and hid her face, wondering what else could go wrong. She had almost kissed her sworn enemy, who then turned out to be the new Head Boy, and her best friend was mad at her. It wasn't even the first day of the term and already she wished it was all over. If things were starting out this way she could only imagine how awful everything would be in a few months when she was being hammered with the stress of studying for the N.E.W.T.s and trying to figure out what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Lily felt her life crashing down around her as she thought about leaving Hogwarts for the last time at the end of the year.

"Evans?" James asked quietly from above her. Lily was shocked at the gentle tone to his voice. She was sure she hadn't ever heard it that way before.

"What?" Lily asked in an irritated tone, speaking into her knees.

"Are you ok?" he asked just as gently.

"What do you think?" she asked, raising her head to look at him. He was sitting next to her on the floor with a purposeful space in between them. James knew that if he sat too close she would just get angry at him again.

"You don't look so happy," he observed, his hazel eyes filled with concern.

"How did you expect me to be? Did you expect me to jump up and down with excitement?" she asked.

"No," he admitted. He was making circles with his finger in the carpet, not looking at Lily.

"Then how did you think this would go?" she asked.

"Honestly, the same, except without the Sirius/Carrie battle. Their fighting is so annoying!" he said, shaking his head.

"Do you think they think that about us?" Lily asked, a rueful smile on her face.

"Merlin I hope not! For one thing, you come up with much better comebacks than Carrie, and I'm much more attractive than Padfoot, so you forgive me much easier," James said.

"Potter, can you seriously go more than five minutes without reminding me what an arrogant git you are?" Lily asked, but she was laughing now instead of yelling, a change that James really appreciated.

"Maybe, but don't tell anyone. I wouldn't want to ruin my reputation," he said, his dimples appearing as he smiled at Lily. She sighed involuntarily.

"What will being Head Boy do to that reputation?" Lily asked in mock concern.

"Well, don't worry! I'll have to throw twice as many parties to make sure people don't think I'm taking the job too seriously," he said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized that they were a mistake. One glance at Lily and he realized that their few seconds of amiable conversation had been completely ruined.

"Potter!" Lily screamed. For a minute there she had forgotten that she was talking to arrogant, immature Potter. For a minute she had been thinking that maybe Potter had actually matured over the summer. She scolded herself for letting her guard down. Potter would always be the person who knew how to irritate her like no other, and if she was smart she would stay as far away from him as possible.

"What? It was a joke. You need to relax, Evans. All that stress isn't healthy," he said, leaning over and ruffling her hair.

"If you want me to relax then you should _not_ mess with my hair!" Lily said, her anger rising. She didn't like when people told her to relax and she REALLY didn't like it when people messed with her hair!

"Oh, come on, you like when I do this," he said, reaching over to ruffle her hair again.

"Potter! Get your hand away from my hair if you know what's good for you!" Lily said, jumping up from the floor and dodging James's hand.

"Evans, you need to have some fun!" James said, chasing her around the compartment.

"And you need to get out of my sight!" Lily screamed.

"Evans, you're not really mad at me again," James said, getting irritated.

"Potter, you have three seconds!" Lily shook with anger.

"We're going to have to live and work together this year. Don't you think we should try to get along?" James asked.

"No, I don't. I think you should just stay away from me!" Lily said.

"Fine I'm going," James grumbled, getting up and slamming the door on his way out. That girl made him so mad sometimes that he couldn't even think! His anger consumed him and after a while of blindly pacing down the hallway he stopped and he turned back to the compartment to blast her one more time. What right did she have to kick him out of the compartment that was half his? But before he opened the door he caught the sight of her. She was sitting on the floor again, head in her hands, shaking with sobs.

Quietly he opened the door and stuck his head in. He wasn't really sure what to do. He wasn't really used to dealing with crying girls. Should he go sit next to her again? Should he put his hand on her shoulder? What would happen if he tried to hug her?

"What do you want now?" she said shakily, although he could tell that she was trying her best to mask the fact that she was crying.

"I just wanted you to know that I'll save you a seat at the Gryffindor table," he said, before closing the door quietly and going to find his friends. Maybe there was some pre-term prank they could plan.

* * *

AN: So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you liked/didn't like. I promise that I will have the next chapter up very soon! I am one of those impatient persons that hate waiting for a new chapter/the next book in a series to come out, so I will try my best to get at least a chapter up a week, maybe more if it isn't too busy at work. Well, don't forget to review on your way out and happy fanficing!

Love,

LittleMissKrissy


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Okay, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have had to clean up the kitchen last night after I attempted to make pasta from scratch.

Well, I'm really sorry that this took so long! I had it all written two weeks ago, but I forgot to submit it before I got married and went on my honeymoon! Needless to say, I have a good reason, and I hope you'll forgive me. I promise to be quicker with the next chapters.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter. I'm not quite sure about it.

* * *

Before I Fell- Chapter Three

Lily thought about skipping the feast for the first time in all her years at Hogwarts. Normally, the sorting feast was one of Lily's favorite Hogwarts events, but this year she just wasn't feeling like going. With Carrie Vale mad at her, she didn't know where she would sit. There was no way she would sit with Potter and his friends, even though it had been sweet, she had to admit, of him to offer. Lily was hovering on the edge of the crowd waiting for carriages to carry them to the school. She had no idea where her friends were in the crowd and she doubted Carrie would be over their fight this quickly.

"Hey Evans, how was your summer?" Jared said from her right. Lily turned to see the gorgeous Ravenclaw smiling warmly at her.

"Great. My family and I went to Italy for a vacation. How was yours?" Lily asked, smiling back at him.

"Not so great," he admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, what happened?" she asked.

"Well, Amber and I broke up," he said, although he didn't look too sad.

"When did that happen?" Lily asked.

"Oh, on the train ride back from Hogwarts. I'm surprised you didn't hear her screaming at me," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm really sorry, Jared," Lily said, although of course she really wasn't. Amber was obnoxious and she didn't deserve to be with Jared.

"Oh, it was ages ago. I'm actually glad to be rid of her now," he said, smiling at Lily. Lily felt her heartbeat speed up at his gorgeous smile. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all, she thought.

"Right," Lily said, not wanting to say anything bad about Amber in case he still had some feelings for her.

"Well, do you already have a group for the carriage ride to Hogwarts?" he asked. Lily turned to see that the crowd had thinned out quite a bit. Most likely Hannah and Carrie had already gotten onto one.

"Actually, no. I haven't been able to find Hannah and Carrie," Lily admitted.

"Well, we could ride in one together," Jared suggested casually.

"Sure!" Lily said quickly. After it was already out of her mouth, she wanted to smack herself for being too eager, but she just smiled at him demurely.

"There you are Evans! I've been looking all over for you!" Potter called from behind her. Lily shut her eyes for a second and took a deep breath to calm herself before turning to face him.

"Potter, how nice to see you," Lily said. Her back was to Jared now, so although she said it in a polite tone, her expression was anything but polite.

"Potter," Jared acknowledged, nodding his head.

"Orson," James said with only slightly narrowed eyes.

"Lily and I were just going to get a carriage together," Jared said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lily smiled at him as she turned towards him. Maybe if Potter saw her with another boy he might finally realize that she wasn't interested in him.

"Oh, Orson, did you hear? Lily and I are the new Head Boy and Head Girl," James said, putting his hand on Lily's other shoulder and stepping in front of them. Lily shot James a glare, trying to get him to go away without losing her temper in front of Jared.

"Why would Dumbledore make you Head Boy?" Jared snorted.

"Believe me, I was just as surprised as you," Lily said.

"She means she was pleasantly surprised. She's had a pretty big thing for me for a few years now," James said.

"Oh, really? I always thought she hated you," Jared said, a very confused expression coming over his face.

"Potter, I do not have a thing for you," Lily said as pleasantly as she could while Jared was looking at her

James just smiled at Lily like adults smile at little children who are clearly lying before turning to Jared. "Yeah, I thought that myself, at first. But then I realized that Lily isn't like normal girls. If she's nice to you, she's not really interested. If she is interested she shows it by yelling and name-calling," James said.

"Potter, I will push you off the Astronomy tower if you don't shut up!" Lily couldn't stop herself from screaming. So much for hiding her temper from Jared. Lily found it impossible to be calm while Potter was so completely ruining her chances with Jared!

"Oh, I did forget the part about threats. If she threatens you then you know she really cares," Potter said, that arrogant smile on his face.

"POTTER!" Lily screamed.

"I see what you mean," Jared said to James.

"I told you," James said.

"Well, good luck, you two. You're definitely going to need it, Potter. Oh, look, I just spotted a friend of mine. I think I'll go join them," Jared said, walking off before Lily even had a chance to protest.

"You're welcome," James whispered in Lily's ear.

"Do you enjoy ruining my life?" Lily asked him angrily.

"I did not ruin your life, Evans. I just saved you from wasting your time on him," James said.

"Maybe I wanted to find out for myself if I was wasting my time or not," Lily said, staring pointedly at James.

"Believe me, you didn't. That guy's a jerk," James said sincerely.

"And what are you?" Lily asked seriously.

"A guy that doesn't cheat," James said simply.

"What?" Lily asked, not following him.

"That's why Amber broke up with Jared. She found out he'd been making out with Jennifer Gray behind her back almost the entire time they'd been dating," James said.

"Oh," Lily said, secretly glad that James had scared Jared away. She wouldn't have wanted to experience that first-hand.

"Like I said, you're welcome," James said, "now, I got us a carriage, so let's go."

Lily rolled her eyes but followed after James, climbing into the opposite side of the carriage from James so she got a nice view of his gorgeous, laughing eyes and adorable dimples. After she sat down, James handed her a pile of Chocolate Frogs, her favorite wizarding treat. After debating for a while about what to do to make Lily feel better, James had settled on the Chocolate Frogs. He knew the chocolate wouldn't fix everything, but he hoped they would make her smile.

Lily found Hannah and Carrie sitting midway down the Gryffindor table. She was slightly nervous about how Carrie would react when she plopped down on the other side of Hannah, but she didn't want to follow Potter despite his offer. She would have to see him after the feast, anyway, and although he had been really sweet with the Chocolate Frogs, she wasn't sure how long their truce would last.

"Hi, Lily," Hannah said brightly. At least one of her friends wasn't mad at her.

"Hi Hannah, hi Carrie, did you guys have a nice train ride?" Lily called, deciding to make the first move. She knew they could both be stubborn, and if she didn't try to fix things now it would take a lot longer.

"It was great. We went the whole rest of the train ride without even mentioning Potter once," Carrie said haughtily.

"Instead we spent the rest of the train ride talking about Black," Hannah offered.

"Hannah," Carrie said angrily.

"What? I was just informing her of what happened on the train ride," Hannah said, laughing.

"How did I suffer through all these years with you two as my best friends?" Carrie asked.

"Oh, come on! We're amazing best friends! Who else would put up with your temper?" Hannah exclaimed.

"Hannah, I don't think that's helping," Lily suggested, seeing the rage take over Carrie's face.

"No, you know what's not helping? You! I can't believe you wouldn't defend me against Black! He's such an insufferable git and you just take his best friend's side over mine! You might as well have said, 'Congratulations, Black. You're always right and Carrie's always wrong!" Carrie bellowed. Several students at the Gryffindor table turned to stare as they heard Carrie's raised voice.

"Carrie, can we talk about this later? Now's probably not the time," Lily said worriedly, looking around them. The first years were lined up waiting for the sorting to begin and McGonagall was walking to the front of the great hall to begin calling the names.

"Oh, I'm so sorry that my feelings are so inconvenient for you! Why don't I just turn off all of my thoughts and feelings so that we can spend our last year at Hogwarts completely focused on you? Do you want to talk some more about your new best friend, bloody Potter?" Carrie bellowed. Almost all of the Gryffindors were staring at them now, along with several Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.

"I wasn't saying that I don't care about your feeling, of course I do. I was just suggesting that we wait until after the feast to talk about everything. It wouldn't hurt if we both took some time to calm down before we say anything we will regret," Lily said quietly. McGonagall had begun calling out names and the first student wobbled up to the sorting hat, looking like he was about to pass out. Jacob Abbott was sorted into Gryffindor. Their table erupted in cheers and Lily joined along. When Lily sat back down she saw that Carrie's expression was murderous.

"Why, Lily, what do you want to say to me?" Carrie shot out.

"Nothing, Carrie," Lily said.

"No, there's obviously something you want to say, so just say it," Carrie bellowed. Lily was glad that the cheering was so loud now that Carrie was drowned out.

"Carrie, I'm not talking about this now. Enjoy the feast and we'll talk later," Lily said with an edge to her voice, turning her attention pointedly to watch the sorting. Even as she said it, she knew it wouldn't work. Carrie couldn't ever let anything go.

"That's just so typical," Carrie said angrily.

"What?" Lily said, whipping around so her long hair smacked herself in the face.

"You always act so superior. It's like you think you're so much better than everyone else just because you get top marks in classes. I can already tell that getting Head Girl hasn't helped that any," Carrie said bitterly.

"I do not act superior! You're just being so completely childish that you can't see that I was right! So I sided with Potter over you? Big deal! You and Black were screaming at each other like morons!" Lily said, shaking with rage but somehow managing to keep herself from screaming. She didn't want to give McGonagall any reason to take away her Head Girl badge.

"You are such a hypocrite! You and Potter fight like, every five seconds! Do you think you look so mature and superior when you're screaming at him?" Carrie asked.

"Carrie, Lily, stop this right now before you ruin everything! This is our last year so just get over it and make up!" Hannah warned sternly. It was so uncharacteristic for her to get angry that Carrie and Lily were stunned into silence for a second.

"I do not act superior!" Lily said, unable to control the urge to defend herself. She stood up and balled her hands into tight fists.

"Lily!" Hannah said in an exasperated tone.

"You do too!" Carrie spoke up, rising and stepping around Hannah so she was screaming in Lily's face.

"Ladies, is everything ok?" James asked. Their fighting had attracted so much attention that James thought it was time to step in. He knew Lily wouldn't want the teachers to notice, and their fight was getting loud enough that even the Slytherins had started to look over.

"Stay out of it, Potter," Carrie practically growled.

"You don't have to yell at him! He's just trying to help," Lily said, surprising even herself in her defense of her enemy. Her outburst really just showed how angry she was at her friend, and had nothing to do with the little feelings for Potter that had been intensifying over the past week. James gaped at Lily in surprise. He couldn't help the spread of a small smile across his lips.

"Oh, isn't that cute? Have you finally realized that you're madly in love with him, Lily? That he's more than just the irritating guy that you regularly dream about without his shirt on saving you from a burning building?" Carrie shot out.

"Carrie, how could you?" Hannah asked, wide-eyed.

"I do not, I have not. I have never dreamed about Potter without his shirt on! And I don't even like Potter! He's revolting!" Lily protested feebly. Her face was one giant blush, and she ducked her head so that it would be less noticeable.

"Evans? Do you really dream about me without my shirt on?" James asked, a full smile breaking out on his face.

"Oh, she does every night. I heard her muttering 'Oh Jamesie, you saved my life! Now kiss me!' and sighing in her sleep only a week ago," Carrie said loudly. James looked and felt completely stunned. He had always hoped Lily felt the same as he did, but he would have never guessed that she was that into him! If all of this was true, then why weren't they dating yet?

"Carrie!" Hannah said, shocked that her friend would be so petty!

Lily was speechless and stunned. She felt completely humiliated and couldn't believe that it had been at the hands of her best friend! She kept her gaze on the face of her best friend, afraid to look around and see how many faces were staring at her. She didn't dare look at Potter! She didn't want to see the look on his face. There was no doubt in her mind that he was smirking at her. Bloody Potter! It was all his fault!

"Carrie," Lily said, narrowing her eyes at her best friend and allowing the rage to blow through her, "it's no wonder Dave broke up with you. I can see just why he couldn't stand to be around you anymore!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Lily wished there were some spell that would take them back. She watched her best friend dissolve into tears with horror, wondering how those words had come out of her mouth.

"Carrie, I," Lily began, moving towards Carrie, putting out her arm to comfort her.

"You know what, Lily. You are the biggest waste of a person that I've ever know, and I can't believe it's taken me so long to realize it! Your sister is completely right. Everyone would be a whole lot better off without your freakish presence in their lives," Carrie said snidely, turning to walk out of the hall.

Lily felt her eyes fill with tears as she remembered when her sister had shot those words at her earlier on in the summer. She turned toward the back of the hall, all thoughts focused on running away.

"Oh, Lily, you forgot something," Carrie said. Lily turned around without thinking and before she could react she was hit with a wall of Pumpkin Juice.

Lily stood there for a second, sticky Pumpkin Juice covering her face and dribbling down to stain her new robes. She stared at Carrie for a second feeling tremors of rage flowing through her body. It felt like hours that she stared into the hate-filled eyes of the girl that used to be her best friend, but it was really only a second. Before she knew what she was doing, she had sprung at Carrie. The girls landed on the floor of the great hall with a clatter and tangle of arms and legs. Everyone in the room was now staring at the two girls as Lily sunk a punch into Carrie's face. Carrie whipped her arm around and caught Lily straight in the nose. With an audible crack, Lily's nose began bleeding. The two girls were scratching and clawing at each other, pulling chunks of hair and sinking punches whenever they got the chance.

"Catfight!" Sirius called, jumping over the table and landing beside the girls. After shoving a third year out of his way, he sat down in front of the fight, enjoying himself.

"Pads, help me separate them!" James yelled, attempting to grab Lily and pull her off of Carrie. In the process he got punched in the stomach and he doubled over, the breath knocked out of him.

"And why would I do that?" Sirius asked.

"Padfoot!" James hissed.

Sirius quickly glanced over at James to see the glare covering his face. "Fine, you always have to ruin my fun."

"Lily, come on," James yelled, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back. At the same time, Sirius grabbed Carrie around the waist and pulled her back. Even though the girls were separated now, they fought against the arms that held them, trying to get at each other again.

"Get off me, Black!" Carrie screamed, flailing her arms and legs. Carrie couldn't do much, as Sirius's muscled arms were locked around her waist. That is, she couldn't free herself until her shoe connected forcefully where no girl ought to kick a guy without good reason. With a high-pitched yelp, Sirius let go of Carrie, who ran after Lily. Potter was successfully dragging Lily down the aisle to the exit until he felt a shove from the back. Carrie had launched herself at James's back, and he fell over on top of Lily.

"Ouch!" James said as Carrie scratched his cheek with her sharp nails. He locked his hands around Carrie's thin wrists and hauled her off of Lily, back over towards Sirius. Lily took the opportunity to jump up and try to flit past James.

"Lily, get back!" James bellowed.

"Guess that means Potter likes _me_, Lily! Bummer!" Carrie screamed.

"He's mine, Carrie. Back off!" Lily screamed, still trying to shove past James.

"Sirius, stop whimpering on the floor and help me!" James cried.

"Oh no, there's no way I'm going near _her_ again!" Sirius said in a high-pitched squeak.

"Grab Lily, then," James said.

"Don't mind if I do," Sirius said, smirking at James as he stood up cautiously.

"On second thought, just stay where you are," James said, not too happy with the way Sirius was looking at Lily.

"And what in the name of Merlin is going on over here?" McGonagall screamed. In the chaos of the fight, none of the people involved had noticed McGonagall stalking down the aisle toward them. Now that she was standing before them, livid, James thought he had never seen the Gryffindor head so angry before, and both girls froze instantly.

"Nothing, Professor. It was all just a misunderstanding. Evans and I were just about to leave," James said quickly.

"Potter, Evans, Black, Vale! My office! Now!" McGonagall bellowed, sweeping at a quick pace towards the back of the hall. She cast one murderous glance back at the four students and they quickly followed her.

Sirius pulled Carrie ahead of James and Lily. Now that the adrenaline of the fight had disappeared from her system, Lily slumped noticeably. James noticed and put his arm around her shoulder, holding her up. He was braced for her protests, but she just looked at him with an exhausted, panicked expression on her face. Her lips were twitching and her eyes were filling with tears.

"Lily, are you ok?" James whispered, very aware of all the people that were staring at them despite Dumbledore's attempts to distract everyone.

"They're going to take away my Head Girl badge! I haven't even had the position for a day and they're going to take it away!" Lily said, her tears spilling down her cheeks.

"They can't do that! You deserve this more than anyone else at this school! If they fire you, then I'll quit in protest!" James said.

"Don't bother. They're just going to expel me. What am I going to do James?" Lily said, too distraught to realize her slip. She had never called him by his first name before, and he smiled brilliantly at her. "I'm glad my distress amuses you!"

"No, Lily," James said, unable to keep himself from smiling as he said her first name, "everything's going to be ok. They won't expel you for this. If they did, Sirius and I would have been expelled_ ages_ ago for fighting with…" James trailed off, remembering that Snape had been Lily's friend for a while. He shuddered involuntarily and was glad she was rid of him now.

"But everyone always expected that of you. I've never even had a detention before!" Lily wailed.

"Well, you've been missing out! Detention is great!" James joked.

"Potter!" Lily hissed. James sighed. So they were already back to last names.

"It was a joke, Lily," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Who told you that you could call me that?" Lily snapped.

"Fine, it was a joke, _Evans_. Happy?" James asked.

"No, I'm not. I'm about to be expelled in five seconds!" Lily said, feeling bile rising in her throat.

"It's going to be ok, Lily," James said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

Lily shot him an angry look.

"It's going to ok _Evans_," James corrected, squeezing her hand again. She gripped his hand tightly, biting her bottom lip as they neared McGonagall's office. Lily hated to even admit it to herself, but she felt slightly comforted by James's presence and his large hand wrapped around her small one. She was too worried to overanalyze their hand-holding, so she left it the way it was because it felt nice.

"Alright, I'll deal with Vale first," McGonagall said, ushering Carrie into her office and closing the door behind them.

Lily slumped down against the wall as her exhaustion finally took over her body. Several places on her body were quite sore, especially her nose. Lily pulled James down next to her, craving some comforting.

"You look awful, Evans," Sirius called from above her, chuckling.

"Pads, stuff it, mate!" James bellowed.

"Sorry, Prongs, not everyone sees her the way you do," Sirius just rolled his eyes and walked down the hall a bit before sitting on the stone platform of a statue of a grumpy old witch.

"It's ok, Potter. I know I look a mess," Lily said, attempting to comb through her hair and untangle the red curls.

"No, you look beautiful," James said and Lily shot him a disbelieving look. "I'm not saying you should walk around with blood covering your face and the front of your robe every day, but I still think you're just as beautiful as ever." James said it so seriously that Lily blushed under the bruises and blood covering her face.

"Thanks, Potter," Lily said, smiling slightly at him before wincing. Her lip split and started bleeding, too.

"It's ok. You don't have to say it," James said, a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

"Say what?" Lily asked, conjuring a cup, water, and a cloth. She began dabbing at her lip, feeling the sting as she did so.

"I already know that you fantasize about me without my shirt on," James said, still smiling.

"Potter, that wasn't even true. Don't flatter yourself," Lily said, averting her eyes. She winced as she dabbed at the blood on her cheek. There was definitely a bruise forming under it.

"Ok, Evans," James said, still smiling.

"I'm serious, Potter!" Lily said firmly, wincing again as she wiped at the other cheek.

"Here, let me do that," James said, taking the cloth from her and very gently wiping her cheek. His face was very close to hers as he concentrated on cleaning her wounds without hurting her. Lily was holding her breath without realizing it. She felt dizzy and it had nothing to do with the injuries she had gotten during her fight with Carrie.

"Get a room, Prongs!" Sirius called from down the hall.

"Shut up, Pads, or I'll tell everyone what _you_ said in your sleep over the summer!" James threatened, now concentrating on cleaning Lily's nose. This was the trickiest spot, as it had already turned a ghastly shade of black.

"You will not, or I will tell Evans here all about what you did in Fifth year," Sirius threatened back.

Lily gasped as he began to just barely wipe the bridge of her nose and James instantly pulled the cloth back. "I'm sorry, are you ok, Evans?" He felt awful hurting her.

"Sure, I'm fine," Lily said, fighting tears.

"Lily," James said, slipping himself as he watched this beautiful, brave girl that he was so desperately in love with.

Lily stared into his eyes and instantly all the worry, all the pain, all the lingering anger left her body. She looked down and saw his full, soft-looking lips mere inches from her own. She felt trapped. She didn't want to move. Her entire body was screaming for her to just lean forward and get it over with.

"Black!" McGonagall called out, banging the door open. Lily and James sprang apart, Lily wincing as her aches returned.

"Yes, Professor?" Sirius called from where he was sitting.

"For once, I called you to my office knowing that you didn't do anything. Please escort Ms. Vale to the Hospital Wing," McGonagall said sternly.

"Yes, Professor," Sirius said, standing up and walking towards Carrie, who glowered at him.

"Should I write my mum and let her know, Pads? She'll be so proud that you lasted one whole day without getting a detention," James said, laughing at his friend.

"Funny, Prongs," Sirius shot over his shoulder, as he walked down the hall beside Carrie, a deliberate distance between them.

"Evans, Potter, in my office! Now!" McGonagall said coldly.

Lily jumped up, smoothed out her bloodied robe, and started walking towards McGonagall's door. Before she reached it, James sped up and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. Lily felt tingles and a warm feeling of comfort travel up her arms and she smiled slightly at him, thanking him silently, before she headed to her fate.

James had been in McGonagall's room too many times to count for matters just like this, so he would have normally felt completely at-ease, but he felt concern for Lily. She looked so small and nervous as she squirmed on the uncomfortable wooden chair in front of McGonagall's desk. James tried to catch her eye and smile reassuringly at him, but Lily didn't turn to look at him. Her eyes were glued to McGonagall, waiting for her fate.

* * *

AN: I'm sorry, I really don't want to whine, but PLEASE REVIEW this chapter if you liked it or didn't like it! The lack of response is making me wonder if I should continue!

Thanks for reading,

LittleMissKrissy


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm back, and I will keep going with the story. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it, especially since I was kind of a jerk last time. I'm really sorry.I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's the longest one I've written so far!

Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter, as is abundantly clear by the fact that I have never even been to Europe. Maybe some day :)

* * *

Lily knew that it was all over when she saw McGonagall's steely gaze rake over her face. She tried not to think about her job options if she was expelled from Hogwarts at this moment. Would she be forced to take a boring job in the muggle world? Was she even qualified for a job in the muggle world if she hadn't gone to high school? Lily knew it was all Carrie's fault, and although she had so many other things to think about, she felt anger still flooding through her. How could Carrie have said all those things? Weren't best friends supposed to keep each other's secrets through anything?

Lily also felt a deep sadness flooding through her as she realized that she would be leaving Hogwarts to never return so much sooner than she had thought. It hurt to know that while her classmates were having feasts in the Great Hall, wandering around Hogsmeade, and preparing for NEWTs, she would probably be at home sifting through the few options she had left for the rest of her life. She couldn't stand to think about the way Petunia would sneer when she arrived back at home, but this was another thought that was zooming through her over-active brain.

"Ms. Evans, what in the name of Merlin has gotten into you? I never expected that I would have to call you into my office on the first night of your year as Head Girl," Professor McGonagall said interrupting Lily's thoughts and looking quite baffled behind her thick, mahogany desk.

"I'm so sorry, Professor," Lily said miserably, dreading what she knew would come.

"I know you are, Ms. Evans, but that doesn't excuse your behavior. When you were chosen to be Head Girl, I was very pleased. Your previous years at Hogwarts proved that you were worthy of the job. You were intelligent, well-respected by the other students, and trustworthy. But after tonight, I'm thoroughly disappointed," McGonagall said coolly.

"Professor, I can explain," James interrupted, but trailed off at the harsh look he received from McGonagall. It was just as well, as James had no idea how he would explain the thing so that McGonagall would soften. Was it even possible for McGonagall to soften? Maybe if he told her that Pixies had been set loose by some dimwitted second year and had been attacking…? No. That sounded dumb, but watching Lily squirm under McGonagall's harsh words had made James determined to do something to fix the situation, even if there wasn't anything.

"I'll get to you later, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said.

"Wait, what? But Professor, for once I didn't do anything!" James protested.

"Mr. Potter, please be quiet or you will have to sit outside until I'm ready to deal with you," McGonagall said, looking at him sternly before turning to face Lily once again. James sat back, trying to think of what he could have done this time.

"I'll do anything I can to make up for it," Lily pleaded, feeling ashamed.

"Don't worry Ms. Evans. You will receive the consequences of your actions, but I'm not sure you'll ever be able to completely make up for everything," McGonagall said, her eyes steely.

"Please don't expel me Professor. I'll do anything if you let me stay," Lily begged, staring into McGonagall's eyes. She was clenching her hands in her lap so that it would be harder to tell how much they were shaking. She realized that disguising the tears that were pooling in her eyes was impossible as they began to leak down her face.

"Expel you, Ms. Evans? Why would I do that?" McGonagall asked in shock.

"You're not going to expel me? I can stay at Hogwarts and start my seventh year?" Lily said eagerly, ignoring the tears that she had begun to wipe away with the back of her hand.

"Well, of course. I am not about to expel the brightest student that Hogwarts has seen in quite some time," McGonagall said, unable to keep a slight smile off of her face.

"Oh, thank you, thank you Professor McGonagall! You don't know how much this means to me!" Lily squealed, beaming brilliantly at her Professor. She wouldn't have to go home and explain to her parents how she had carelessly thrown her life away. She could still go to Hogsmeade and take the NEWTs. Her future was still glimmering before her, open with possibilities. Lily was so relieved that she didn't even get upset at James when he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"That being said," Professor McGonagall began in a somber tone.

"Wait, Professor. You're not going to take away her position as Head Girl, are you? Because if you are going to, then you'll have to find a new Head Boy," James said loyally. He couldn't imagine living or having to spend so much time with any other girl. This was his final chance to prove to Lily that they were supposed to be together. Maybe if he went back later and groveled before McGonagall. Maybe if he told her that he knew he and Lily were meant to be together, and that being Heads would be the only chance he would have to win her over…somehow he doubted that would sway McGonagall, but he was willing to try if it came to that. He would just have to make sure that Sirius never heard anything about it.

"I told you not to do that, Potter! Now you're just making the idea of firing me all that more appealing!" Lily whispered shrilly at James. Already the loss of her position as Head Girl was getting between them, he thought.

"I appreciate your loyalty, Mr. Potter, but that won't be necessary. I am not taking the Head Girl position away from Ms. Evans. I think that if she behaves herself from now on, she'll make a fine Head Girl," McGonagall said, another small almost-smile on her lips.

"Yes!" James shouted, unable to contain himself. McGonagall shot him a baffled look before she turned to Lily.

"Thank you, Professor," Lily said demurely, hoping that she would be able to live up to McGonagall's expectations.

"Now, I will have to give you a detention, and that will fix things as far as the school is concerned, but it may take you a bit of time to earn back the respect of your fellow students. After your display I'm not sure they will think of you as an authority figure."

"Yes, Professor," Lily said.

"Good. Come to my office at eight o'clock next Friday night for your detention," McGonagall said sharply.

"Yes, Professor," Lily said, trying not to sound too upset. She was upset that she would be getting her first detention, but she was also relieved that she hadn't been expelled and that she was still Head Girl.

"Now, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, shifting her gaze to him where he was slouching in the wooden chair next to Lily.

"Professor, I really don't know what I've done," James said.

"Really? You have no idea?" McGonagall said, an amused expression on her face.

"No, Professor. For once, I really haven't done anything," James said, frowning.

"Then let me refresh your memory. You pulled Lily and Carrie apart, tried to diffuse the situation before it escalated, and stuck up for your Head Girl when she was in trouble," McGonagall said, a stern look still on her face.

"Professor, I really don't see why any of that should get me into trouble," James said, a confused expression coming over his handsome features.

"You don't see _anything_ that could get you in trouble?" McGonagall said sharply.

"No, Professor," James insisted irritably. It was just his luck that he had done everything to help fix the situation and he was in trouble. Lily stared dumbstruck at the professor. She couldn't see anything that would get James into trouble either. _Maybe if he gets a detention he'll have it with me_, Lily thought before she could stop herself. What was wrong with her? Did she really _want _to spend any more time with Potter? She didn't let herself answer that question.

"Maybe that's because _for once_ I'm actually surprised at how maturely and responsibly you acted, Mr. Potter. I have to admit that I was worried when Dumbledore made you Head Boy, but I can see now, that if you continue in the way that you have started, and refrain from pulling immature pranks with those friends of yours, you will make a fine Head Boy," McGonagall said with a wry smile on her face. James and Lily gaped at her open-mouthed.

"What? You thought you and your friends were the only ones who could pull a prank, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall said, still smiling. It looked really strange to see even a small smile on her face.

"Professor McGonagall, if I had known about you prank-pulling skills, I would have asked for your help a long time ago. Let's band together and get Old Slughorn," James teased.

"What did I just say, Mr. Potter? I thought I thoroughly warned you to stay away from pranks for the year. You must provide a good example for the younger students," McGonagall said, her expression back to a steely gaze.

"Of course he will, Professor," said Lily, seeing that the conversation was heading in the wrong direction. She turned to glare at James, to remind him that he needed to take his job as Head Boy seriously.

"I solemnly swear," he promised out loud, but under his breath he finished, _that I _will _be up to no good_. There was no way that he could go through his final year at Hogwarts without pulling some pranks! He and the rest of the Marauders had a legacy to live up to!

"Good. You are both free to go. Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing, Lily, your nose looks pretty bad," McGonagall suggested, "And Mr. Potter, Miss Evans?" They both looked back at McGonagall as they were about to exit the door.

"Yes?" they said at the same time.

"Don't give me another reason to call you in here."

* * *

The visit to the Hospital Wing had been quick. Hogwarts' healer had quickly fixed the broken bone in Lily's nose. After Lily washed the blood off her face, it was impossible to tell that she had even been in a fight in the first place. Luckily Carrie's trip to the Hospital Wing had been quick too, because she was long gone before Lily got there. She wasn't sure what would happen the next time that she saw Carrie. The only thing she knew was that she wouldn't let Carrie provoke her again.

"So, are you ready to go to our new home?" James asked once Lily was all cleaned up. He held his arm out in an arc, as if he was expecting her to put her arm through his.

"Don't call it that, Potter! We do not live together. We just happen to share a common room," Lily said irritably. It would be just great if Potter went around telling everyone they were sharing a room.

"Oh, well, I asked Dumbledore if we could have a cozier living arrangement, and," James began, smiling.

"Potter, I'm way too tired for this," Lily growled.

"Lighten up, Lily. It's was a joke," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Hi, Lily," called a sixth-year boy with sandy blond hair who was lagging in the hall near the Hospital Wing. Lily had never talked to him before, but she knew he was a Ravenclaw, mostly because he was standing in a group of other sixth-year Ravenclaws.

"Um, hi," she said.

"Hi, Lily," several of the guys called out at the same time, beaming smiles on their faces.

"You have a great right hook," one of the boys said with a sly grin.

"Um, thanks," said Lily, blushing slightly. She was, of course, embarrassed that everyone had seen her get into the fight with Carrie, but she didn't mind getting attention from handsome boys. Even if they were younger than her.

"You can fight me any day," called another boy from the group, this one was tall and handsome, with dark brown hair.

"How about I punch you in the face for her?" James asked, anger flooding through him. He had suffered through watching Lily get attention from other guys for the past few years, and he was sick of it.

"How about I punch him in the face for myself?" Lily shot angrily at James. James didn't always need to rush in to protect her. She could take care of a few creeps. As Head Girl, she needed to show her fellow students that she was tough and could handle situations by herself.

"Whatever works for you, girlie," said the boy, slinking over and draping his arm around her.

"Get your arm off her before I break it off," James said threateningly.

"Run along, Potter. This isn't any of your business. This is between Lily and me," said the boy, pulling Lily closer.

"I don't think so. The only think I want between us is at least ten feet. Let's go James," said Lily, grabbing James's hand and pulling his arm around her shoulders. Maybe if those revolting boys thought she was with James, they would leave her alone. And maybe if she flirted with him, James would forget all about the sixth-year pricks. She could sense James' anger and knew it wouldn't be long before he whipped out his wand. If that happened, it wouldn't be too long until they were back in McGonagall's office.

"Sure, Lily, dear. Let's go to our new home," James said, squeezing her shoulders and turning back to glare at the Ravenclaws once more before guiding Lily down that corridor.

"Ok, you can get your arm off of me now, Potter," Lily said once they had gone a floor up. Now that the Ravenclaw boys were out of sight, she wanted to put as much distance between Potter and herself. Smelling his woodsy cologne wafting up from under the collar of his robe was making it hard for her to think clearly. She vaguely wondered if he put some sort of girl-charming potion in it. She wouldn't be surprised if he did, the arrogant prick.

"That's ok, Lily, I don't mind keeping it there. What if those Ravenclaw boys are following us?" James asked, smiling down at her as they continued towards the forth floor, towards the entrance to the Heads common room.

"Get off, Potter. I'll take my chances," said Lily, shoving him firmly in the side.

"Geeze, Lily. Have you ever thought of being a beater?" James asked, running his side with a frown on his face.

"Yeah right! I can't even fly a broom," Lily said, snorting.

"What?" said James, stopping in his tracks.

Lily was several paces away before she realized that he had stopped. She turned to look back at him and took in his wide open mouth and his frozen pose. She rolled her eyes. Honestly, Potter was so daft that he just assumed that everyone was just as in love with Quidditch as himself.

"You can stop looking at me like that, Potter. Not everyone likes flying," Lily said in an annoyed tone. This was just one more bit of evidence that James was not the guy for her. The guy for her would not have Quidditch running through his brain 24/7.

"Are you kidding me, Evans? Flying on a broomstick and playing Quidditch are the best things about being a wizard!" James said, speaking in an incredulous voice.

"What about healing sick people? What about defending the defenseless?" Lily asked.

"Well if you want to be all noble, sure. But flying on a broom is at least the most _fun_ thing about being a wizard," James said.

"Well, I happen to be a witch, so…" Lily began.

"That's lame, Evans, and you know it," James said, shaking his head at the short red-head.

"Can we just keep walking to our common room? It's getting late and I want a full night's rest before classes begin tomorrow," Lily said, turning around and striding away, not waiting for James to join her again. James walked quickly down the hall to catch up to her. Despite her small stature, she could really walk fast when she wanted to.

"You are such a nerd, Lily. It's our first night back, and it's not even eleven yet. Don't you want to catch up with your fr…" James began to say before stopping short with an 'oh merlin' look on his face. He hadn't said the word, but he knew Lily was bright enough to figure out what he was about to say.

"No, I don't think I will tonight. I have a lot to do," said Lily, unable to keep a hurt look off of her face. Normally, she, Hannah, and Carrie would have stayed up all night talking about their summer holiday, the school year ahead, and of course, boys, the night that they go back to school. And Lily would always complain and say she needed to get to bed every few hours, but she would continue to stay up until they all drifted off mere hours before they had to wake up. Remembering all this, Lily felt the prick of tears beginning to form in her eyes. It felt like she had a lump the size of a bludger shoved in her throat.

"You could always hang out with me and my friends tonight. Maybe Sirius will even let you paint his toenails," James suggested in a kind voice.

"And what makes you think I would want to do that?" snapped Lily. They had one more corridor left before they reached the statue of the first Hogwarts Head Boy and Girl, Wendy Aplomb and Malcolm Underhill, which guarded the entrance to the Heads common room, and Lily tried to let anger take over her body so that she wouldn't start crying in front of James. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I just thought you would, seeing as you dream about me without my shirt on," James said, smirking at her. He knew this would make her mad, but anything was better than watching her miserable face twitch with hurt while she tried to keep it all together.

"Please, Potter. That's not even true! And if I did, it would be a nightmare that I would hope to wake from instantly," she said, glaring at him. She found it easier to focus on her anger now, but she was still feeling the prick of tears. She hurried down the corridor.

"Whatever you say, dear," James said, still smiling. Maybe there was something wrong with him, but he thoroughly enjoyed their little fights. He enjoyed watching a fire light up in her eyes as she rounded on him and attempted to put him in his place.

"Don't call me that," spat Lily. They just turned the corner onto their corridor when she saw three figures leaning against the Heads statue. She sighed heavily. "I suppose this couldn't be avoided. Just tell your friends that they can't show up at all times in our common room. And if I can hear any noise in my room, I will kick them out!" Lily said angrily.

"Calm down, Evans. We'll probably just walk around the castle. We Marauders don't like to sit still for too long," James said, flashing her a smile.

"Whatever," she said, walking towards the statue.

"Hey, Evans," Sirius asked from where he was lounging against the wall.

"What do you want, Black?" Lily asked, grumbling.

"I was wondering, do you think you could send me a quick Owl the next time you and Carrie get into a fight? I do not want to miss it," Sirius said, his characteristic smirk plastered over his face.

"You're not even worth hexing," Lily muttered as she said the password and climbed into the doorway that appeared as the two statues swung forward like doors.

* * *

"So, I'm taking it you haven't won her over yet, Prongs," Sirius said as they walked along a random corridor. The Marauders never really had a direction in mind when they walked around the castle. They were just all too restless to sit still for too long.

"Didn't you hear what Carrie said, mate? She dreams about me _without_ my shirt on! That's got to mean something!" James protested.

"I don't know, Prongs. Carrie could have made it up to make Lily mad," Peter suggested.

"Did you see the look on her face when Carrie said it, though? It was a mix between murderous and mortified. I think it was definitely true," Remus said.

"Well if Moony said it, I know I can believe it," James said, smiling.

"Even if she does have feelings for you, she'll never admit it, Prongs. That girl is way too stubborn," Sirius said.

"Just like someone else I know," Remus said.

"Did you hear that, Prongs? He called you stubborn!" Sirius said, smirking at James.

"I'm sure that's exactly who he was talking about, Pads," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Funny, Prongs. Anyway, I've always said you're going about this girl things all wrong. Why not just do what I do and pick a random girl to snog when you feel like it, and dump her before she gets a chance to whine?" Sirius asked.

"And get my nose broken several times in the process?" James asked.

"Please, that only happened four times, and a broken nose is easy to get fixed. It's far worse to try and fix your life once you have a whining girl following you around," Sirius said.

"It's good to see that you haven't let any sensitivity creep up on you over the summer, Pads," Moony said, rolling his eyes.

"Nope, I'm still the same Lady's Man of Hogwarts," Sirius said, strutting down the hallway. The three other Marauders all rolled their eyes.

"Well, James isn't like that. He really likes Lily. I doubt he even notices other girls," Remus said.

"How can I notice anyone else? Lily is so beautiful, so interesting, so cute when she's yelling at me?" James asked, feeling slightly embarrassed once he realized what he had just revealed. He turned slightly pick as the guys looked at him as if he was going loony.

"You're pathetic, Prongs. You need help, mate, but I don't want to get into all that now. Let's talk about what our first prank of the year is going to be," Sirius piped up, excitement clear on his face. It was times like these that James realized how well Sirius's animagus form suited him. He could practically see Sirius panting and wagging his tail.

"I don't know, guys, with Lily already upset," James began. His three friends turned and gaped at him.

"Did he just say that, Pads?" asked Remus, out of the corner of his mouth, his gaze still fixed on James.

"I'm not completely surprised, Moony, but I think Prongs has finally lost it," Sirius said, shaking his head pityingly at James.

"Ok, what was I thinking, right? I'm in," James said, rolling his eyes.

"He seems to have come to his senses now, but we better keep a close watch on him," Sirius said to Remus.

"Constant vigilance," Remus agreed.

James just rolled his eyes.

* * *

A half-hour after curfew, James entered the Head common room cautiously. He knew that if Lily caught him sneaking in she would be furious. But when he entered, he saw that the room was empty and dark. He hadn't taken the time to look around the place before he set off with the Marauders, and now that he was seeing the place he was in awe. The Heads common room was incredible, with a big, comfy looking couch and several armchairs spread out in front of a wide, marble fire place. Off to the left there were two solid, wooden desks that were set up back to back with rows of packed bookshelves lining the wall behind the desk, and to the right a small cupboard area where James imagined he could keep his stash of candy from Honeydukes.

There were several doors lining the walls of the common room, and James tried the one to the far right. Inside was a large bathroom, with a pool-sized tub just like the Prefect's bathroom, except that this room was also decorated in red and gold, and there was a picture of a massive lion that was silently opening and closing its jaw as if it were roaring, at the bottom of the huge tub. Not having been a Prefect, James had only seen their bathroom because of a prank the Marauders pulled in their fifth year. Remus's access to the Prefect's bathroom had come in very handy for scaring several of the Prefects while they were about to step into the tub. That charm that made them appear as sharks had come in very handy. And Sirius dressing up as a mermaid had been priceless, especially when an unsuspecting Snape had been caught in the trappings of infatuation until he realized that the mermaid swimming in the tub was only using a spell to make his voice appear feminine in the dark room. James chuckled to himself, remembering those pranks. His laughter echoed through the vaulted-ceiling room. James scanned the rest of the room, seeing a large shower, two sinks, one with his name written over it in gold letters, and the other with Lily's name written above it in red letters ,and of course, a bathroom stall.

The next door that James explored was a closet that had hooks for James's broom, hooks for his Quidditch robes, and a red and gold tiled floor for after a muddy practice or game. The walls were painted with a grinning James zooming in front of the goalposts, throwing the Quaffle past a unidentifiable keeper. The other players on his team were zooming around the ceiling, beating bludgers, and defending their goalposts. James even spotted a snitch zooming around the walls. James shut the doors, beaming to himself. The Qudditch closet was probably his favorite part of the room.

Continuing on his exploration of the Heads rooms, James came across a glass door that led out onto a balcony. The balcony was encased in glass and in the center of it was a round, glass-topped table overlooking the lake. On the table, there was a small piece of parchment. James picked up the parchment, thinking that Lily might have left him a note.

James and Lily,

Congratulations on being made Head Boy and Head Girl! I hope you will enjoy your rooms. The house-elves worked very hard to customize it to your liking. Relax and get all settled in tonight, because tomorrow at 8pm we will meet to discuss your duties as Head students of Hogwarts.

Have a good night,

Professor Dumbledore

James set the parchment down on the table, leaving it in case Lily hadn't seen it yet. He walked back into the common room and saw that there were only two doors left. One said Lily on it in red letters, and the other said James on it in gold letters. James hesitated outside the doors, his curiosity peaked. He knew he shouldn't, he knew Lily would be furious, but he couldn't resist. He didn't see any light coming from under her door, and he didn't hear any noise either. He slowly eased the door open. He couldn't see a whole lot of what the room looked like, as it was very dark inside, the curtains drawn across the window and only letting a narrow beam of moonlight fall upon Lily's bed. She was laying in bed with her back turned to him.

"Potter, what in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing!" Lily tried to bellow, but her voice came out watery and it cracked.

"Sorry, Evans, I just wanted to see if you were asleep," James said, hovering awkwardly in the doorway.

"Well, I'm not, happy?" Lily shot, unable to keep herself from sniffling. The tears were still pouring down her face and her voice showed her misery even more than when she first spoke.

"Um, are you alright, Evans?" James asked. He wanted to look her in the eyes, but she was still turned away from him.

"Go away, Potter," Lily said tiredly.

"I just, if you need anything," James began.

"Get out, Potter!" Lily said more firmly.

"I mean, I'll be right next door. If you want to talk, or just, I don't know, just have company but not talk. Anything you need," he said again.

"Potter!" Lily shrieked.

"Alright, I'm going!" James said, slowly backing out of her room.

As he was closing her door, though, James heard her call out softly, "Thank you, James."

* * *

AN: Well, thank you all for sticking with this. Sorry again for the gripes about the reviews. I will update soon! So, if you would like, I wouldn't be opposed to any reviews.

Thanks,

Littlemisskrissy


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Welcome back!I hope you are all doing well! Sorry about this being a little late. I wrote about four versions of this chapter because I couldn't decide how I wanted it all to go. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter because I spent a lot of time agonizing over it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm pretty sure you've all guess that so far.

* * *

Lily awoke early the next morning, yawning loudly as she sat up in bed. She stared out her window at the lake below, dapples of sunrise reflecting in the choppy water. The cheery scene that presented itself before her eyes did nothing to stifle the grumble that fell from her lips. Despite what everyone always assumed, Lily was not a morning person. She secretly loved to sleep in, but on days that she had classes, she knew that she needed at least an hour to completely wake up so that she would be able to absorb the material. Just exactly as everyone knew, she cared way too much about her grades to languish in bed any longer.

Lily hated climbing out of bed that morning more than any other, however, because she knew she would have to endure a day of classes with Carrie. She didn't have to look at her schedule to know that Carrie had every class with her. They had planned it that way the previous term, thinking how great it would be to spend all day together in classes and then working on homework together at night. Now she dreaded having to spend all day with her best friend. The only thing that she had left was to hope that Carrie had calmed down at least a little bit overnight.

Walking across the plush red carpet of her room, Lily grabbed a robe before heading to the bathroom. Although she knew that it was far too early for James to be awake, she reminded herself that she needed to be more careful than when she lived with just the girls. She didn't exactly want James to see her walking across the common room in her tiny boy shorts and cami.

Feeling slightly ridiculous, she gravitated to the mirror, attempting to smooth down her unruly hair before she walked to the bathroom. She scolded herself for being unwilling to allow the chance of Potter seeing her in her just-woken state. Rolling her eyes at herself, she walked away from the mirror and opened her door. She listened hesitantly in her doorway, but when she didn't hear anything she assumed that James was still asleep. Shaking her head at her irresponsible roommate, she padded to the bathroom.

The bathroom door swung open ahead of her and she quickly got into the shower. Lily sighed as she felt the nearly scolding water pounding against her skin. She slowly washed her hair and body, feeling way too good to hurry. When she stepped out of the shower, she saw that the bathroom was thick with steam. Clearing the mirror of the steam with her wand, Lily set to work drying and fixing her hair. Despite her finesse with a wand, it still took a while to coax her hair into the smooth and straight style that she liked, and that was after using various hair potions. Lily would have been bored if it weren't for the wizard wireless that was playing music. She had turned it way up and was dancing and singing along to the music, feeling the stress of her upcoming day melting away already.

After fifteen minutes, Lily smiled at her reflection in the mirror. Now all she needed to do was to get dressed and decide if it would be worth it to go down to breakfast. Twirling around, Lily began walking back out of the bathroom. Steam was still thick in the air and she picked her way carefully along the edge of the tub, looking down at her feet as she sang the song on the wizard wireless. Lily couldn't help feeling optimistic as she sang one of her favorite songs. Maybe today would be the first day of the best year of her life (so far). Maybe Carrie would apologize to her as soon as she walked into the Great Hall. Maybe she would meet the one handsome, charming, kind, and smart guy left in the world and she would fall for him.

Just as she was thinking all of these good thoughts, she ran smack into a solid mass. Unbalanced, she began falling. She whipped her head around to see what she had run into and had just enough time to catch a glimpse of messy jet black hair before she plunged into the tub. As she fought to keep the towel around her and still rise to the surface of the tub, she felt a searing rage run through her body. Surfacing, she took several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down before she decided she had every right to be angry.

"POTTER!" Lily screamed shrilly.

"Oh, morning Lily. Care for a swim?" James asked, pausing to smile at her before he executed a massive cannonball.

A wall of water hit Lily in the face. She glared towards where James had submerged under the water. As he surfaced, she spluttered, wiping the water off of her face.

"POTTER!" Lily screamed again, anger making it impossible for her to think coherently. She had just spent fifteen minutes fixing her hair, had been completely dry and ready to get dressed, and James had to ruin everything!

"What?" James asked confusedly.

"What? What? Are you telling me that you don't know why I'm screaming at you!" Lily screamed indignantly at him.

"Lily, I rarely ever know why you're screaming at me," James said tiredly.

"Ugh! Potter, do you enjoy being such a complete prat?" Lily shot out, stalking up the steps out of the tub and walking angrily across the red and gold tiled floor to the door.

"How could I not enjoy it when you remind me of it every five seconds," James said, heavy on the sarcasm as he trudged across the floor after her.

"Please, Potter. If I didn't knock you back into your place every once in a while your big head would make you float away," Lily said, turning to glare at him as she exited the bathroom, her soaked towel dripping huge splotches of water onto the common room carpet

"What did I even do to make you so mad, Lily?" James asked exasperatedly.

"You knocked me into the tub!" Lily screamed. She was now screaming in his face and poking his bare chest.

"I did not! You plowed into me and fell!" James accused, pushing her hand away.

"I did not! I was just walking to the door and you were blocking it!" Lily screeched.

"I was walking into the bathroom to take a shower, Lily!" James said.

"Why were you just standing there?" Lily asked pointedly.

"Maybe I was trying to see where I was going! You probably used up all of the hot water in the entire wizarding world, because I could barely see two feet in front of my face, not to mention the steam was making my glasses fog up!" James argued.

"You planned this, didn't you? You're trying to make my life miserable! You're trying to make me think you're a nice guy so you can knock me on my arse!" Lily accused.

"What are you even talking about Evans?" James roared.

"I know what you're doing!" Lily accused, her cheeks turning red with rage.

"Oh, really? And what horrible thing am I supposed to be doing now?" James asked, rolling his eyes in anger.

"You're trying to get me to fall for you so you can dump me in front of the whole school and get revenge on me for turning you down all these years!" Lily spat.

"Merlin, Lily. You can't really think that I'm that bad!" James cried angrily.

"I know you're that bad Potter! I've suspected that that's all you've been trying to do all these years. And stop calling me Lily!"

"I just don't know what to do with you anymore, Evans! You're always mad at me, and it's always for nothing!" James said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, well, just stay away from me!" Lily growled back as she marched into her room, slamming the door.

Throwing her towel into the hamper in her closet in frustration, Lily dug out her wand and began drying herself. She didn't dare use her wand to dry her hair because she knew it would only result in a poofy mass of curls. She dressed quickly in a skirt and random shirt, too annoyed to put much effort into the selection. Knowing that she didn't have time to properly fix her hair, she threw it into a messy bun and grabbed her bag. Pointedly not looking into the mirror, Lily left her room, slamming her door as she entered the common room. She could hear the shower going in the background and she fought the urge to flick her wand and make the shower water ice cold.

Lily was so preoccupied with her anger that she almost didn't notice the small house-elf standing in front of her door. Screaming, she jumped back.

"Are you alright, miss? Gretchen is very sorry, miss," the house-elf said worriedly in her high, squeaky voice. She was wearing a tea towel with a big sunflower on it over her thin figure and she had a big smile on her face.

"Oh, yes, I'm alright. Are you alright? I didn't mean to scream," Lily said apologetically.

"Yes, thank you, miss!" Gretchen said, beaming at Lily.

The bathroom door banged opened and James came charging out, clutching a towel with one hand around his waist, and gripping his wand with the other, soap coating his hair.

"Lily, what's wrong? Are you alright?" James asked worriedly, looking at her with concern.

"Potter, do you always have to poke your nose into my business?" Lily asked, still furious with him from their argument earlier. And at herself for staring a little too much at his bare, wet chest.

"You're mad again? You're mad that I was checking to see if you were alright when I heard a blood-curdling scream? You have issues Evans!" James shouted, slamming the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, Gretchen. What is it that you wanted?" Lily asked, sighing angrily at the closed door.

"I just wondered if you were finished with your breakfast, miss."

"My breakfast?" Lily asked, jolted away from thoughts of Potter the Prat.

"Yes, miss," Gretchen said, grabbing Lily's arm and tugging her towards the door to the balcony. The glass table was piled with muffins and various types of fruit spilling out of wicker baskets, platters of bacon, eggs, and pancakes, and a big jug of pumpkin juice.

"What's all that?" Lily asked in shock. She had only ever seen more food on the tables in the Great Hall, and that was to feed a whole house with seven grades of students!

"Mr. Potter came down to the kitchens early this morning and asked us to bring up some breakfast," Gretchen said. Lily stared at all of the food piled onto the table in amazement that quickly changed into anger.

"So that lazy git made you cook and prepare all of this so that he wouldn't have to walk all the way down to the Great Hall! I can't believe him!" Lily said, shaking her head.

"No Miss. Mr. Potter said he was doing it all for you," Gretchen said.

"Oh, so it's just another part of his plan," Lily said bitterly.

"His plan?" Gretchen echoed.

"Yeah, Gretchen. Can you believe that he's been nice to me just so he can pull the cloak over my eyes and then embarrass me in front of the whole school?" Lily shouted angrily.

"I don't understand miss," Gretchen said apologetically.

"He's trying to play a trick on me, Gretchen," Lily explained ruefully.

"Are you sure, miss? Mr. Potter seemed really sincere when he was talking to us about you," Gretchen said, confusion still apparent on her small face.

"What did he tell you?" Lily asked, an angry glint in her eyes.

"Oh, he told us lots! He said that you're the brightest student in all of Hogwarts, that you are kind and sincere, that you are incredibly cute when you're angry," Gretchen said, with a big grin on her face.

"He said what? I am not cute when I'm angry! Potter!" Lily protested, the anger churning within her. It took all of her restraint to keep herself from dashing into the bathroom and shouting at him. It was beyond irritating that all this time Potter was amused whenever she was furious at him!

"He said that you were really sad about a fight you had with your best friend and he wished he could do something to make things easier. And that's when he asked if we could bring some fruit and muffins up so that you wouldn't have to go down to the Great Hall and see your friend," Gretchen said.

"What? He said that?" Lily asked, sinking down into the couch beside her, not quite believing Gretchen.

"Yes, Miss," Gretchen said sincerely.

"And you don't think it was all part of the trick?" Lily said, hope alight in her eyes. If Potter was just going to extreme measures for his trick, then maybe she wouldn't have to feel like an idiot for being so wrong.

"No, miss. He was smiling so big when he was talking about you, I don't think it could have been just an act," Gretchen said, clasping her arms around herself, swaying and sighing to herself.

"Oh no!" Lily said in horror.

"What's wrong, miss?" Gretchen asked with concern.

"I've just been an absolute idiot, Gretchen! I got into a huge fight with Potter this morning! He's so mad!" Lily said miserably.

"Oh, but that's easy to fix, miss!" Gretchen said happily.

"How?" Lily asked.

"You just have to apologize!" Gretchen squeaked excitedly.

"Oh, right," Lily said flatly.

James Potter was angry himself as he strode through the corridors to the Great Hall. He knew that he didn't have a lot of time left until classes started, but he needed the long walk to calm down. It was just incredible that every time he did something nice for Lily, she found some way to twist it and make him look like a bloody prat!

James scanned the Gryffindor table for his friends and quickly found them. They were halfway down the table, shoveling food into their mouths like normal. James marched down the aisle to them, aware of all the teasing that he would get. As soon as the Marauders caught sight of James's livid face, Peter moved down so that he could sit.

"What happened, Prongs? Your breakfast date with Evans didn't go as planned?" Sirius asked, laughing to himself.

"Why else would I be down here with you lot?" James grumbled, heaping eggs, bacon, and toast onto his plate.

"Oh, Prongs, I'm stung. I thought I was your brother. And look at poor Peter! He looks like he's about to run wailing to his dorm for a good cry," Sirius said in between large mouthfuls of toast.

"Shove off, Padfoot!" Peter said.

"See, he's so upset that he's lashing out at others," Sirius said.

"Oh, come on," Peter said angrily.

"So, what happened, Prongs?" Moony asked, carefully skewering some eggs with his fork and bringing it to his mouth. He was the only member of the Marauders that didn't eat like it was his last meal for a month.

"That Evans! She makes me bloody crazy! I was just walking into the bathroom and she barreled into me and fell into the tub!" James said angrily.

"Where's the problem there? I wouldn't mind a little morning swim with Evans, sans clothes of course," Sirius interrupted, smirking.

"Padfoot! Stay away from Evans!" James growled.

"Prongs, just ignore him and tell us what happened," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"Well, she got all mad at me, as if it was my fault! And then she said that I've just been nice to her these past few days so that I could win her over and get her to go out with me!" James growled.

"Well, isn't that what you've been doing?" Remus asked, confused.

"Unsuccessfully, I might add," Sirius said. James threw a piece of buttered toast at Sirius, but he ducked at the last second. The piece of toast flew across the aisle and stuck to Millicent Durangle's robes. The boys chuckled heartily. Millicent and her friends turned around and smiled brightly at the older Gryffindor boys which only made them laugh harder.

"No, she accused me of trying to get her to go out with me so that I could dump her in front of the whole school and humiliate her. She claims I'm trying to get revenge on her for all the times she turned me down over the years," James said, rolling his eyes.

"What a great idea, Prongs! Why didn't we think of that?" Sirius asked.

"Don't listen to him, Prongs," Remus said, rolling his eyes too.

"Do I ever? Anyway, I think I'm just done with Evans for a while. I'm just tired of getting yelled at for doing nice things," James said wearily.

"In that case, I think it's my turn to have a go at her," Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows at James.

"Yeah right, Pads. If I haven't been able to win her over in four years, what makes you think you can?" James asked.

"Because, Prongs, the ladies love me. They can't resist me," Sirius said.

"Great, well, here's your chance, Pads. Evans is standing in the doorway," Peter said. The boys looked over to the entranceway and saw that Lily was indeed standing there. She looked frozen in place as she hovered in the doorway.

"Well, here I go. Don't worry, James. I'm not interested in the love of your life, I'm just going to show you how easy it is to win her over. Watch and learn," Sirius said. James glared at Sirius's back as he walked down the aisle towards Lily.

"I wish we could hear what he's saying," Peter said as they watched Sirius's back.

"You don't want to learn from Padfoof, Wormtail. Unless you want to end up in the hospital wing with a broken nose," said James.

After a few minutes, James felt his blood boiling. Sirius and Lily were leaning in to each other. Their lips were almost touching. At the last second before their lips touched, a great SLAP rang out through the Great Hall. Lily had smacked Sirius across the face. She found James at the Gryffindor table and glared at him before turning on her heel and walking out of the doorway.

"So, Pads, how'd it go?" Remus asked, chuckling heartily.

"I can't believe it! I used all of my best moves, and I thought it was getting through to her because she started leaning into me, and the next thing I knew she was slapping me across the face! She has quite a bit of strength for someone so small! I think her handprint is still stamped onto my cheek!" Sirius said, a confused look on his face.

"The next time you try to kiss my girl, Pads, she won't be the only one hitting you," James glared.

Lily sat down at a desk towards the front of the Potions classroom. She pulled out her Potions textbook and stifled a groan as she caught the sight of Slughorn's bulbous stomach coming towards her. Faking a smile, Lily looked up from her book and met Slughorn's over-enthusiastic expression.

"Hello, Lily, dear, had a nice summer?" Slughorn asked, beaming down at his favorite student.

"Yes, sir. Thank you. And you?" Lily asked.

"Wonderful summer, yes. I had tickets to the Quidditch Cup, of course. Archie Rogarth sent them to me, brilliant Keeper. Of course, his team, Puddlemere United, lost but it was a great match all the same. And of course I had barely enough time to do anything else, what with all the owls I got inviting me to special events, and asking my opinion on the news in the Daily Prophet," Slughorn said.

"That sounds like you had a lovely summer Professor," Lily said, flipping idly through her textbook.

"Indeed, Ms. Evens. Well, I don't want you to be too anxious, so I will owl you and the rest of the members of the Slug Club tomorrow and let you know the date of the first meeting," Slughorn said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, thanks Professor," Lily said as enthusiastically as she could manage.

"Well, it looks like your classmates are starting to arrive, so I'd better go prepare for our first lesson," Slughorn said, shuffling over to the blackboard and tapping it with his wand so the day's potion instructions would appear on it.

Lily sighed to herself and looked around the room. The classroom had filled up quite a bit since she had entered a few minutes before. And sitting on the opposite side in the middle row were Hannah and Carrie. Lily felt stunned. Of course she knew it would be hard for her and Carrie to get along, but she had assumed that her friends would still sit with her and work with her in Potions class. Lily caught Hannah's eye and shot her a huge glare, before turning around and staring at her desk, a deep frown coming over her features.

"Here's your schedule, Evans. Professor McGonagall asked me to give it to you since you weren't at breakfast," James said emotionlessly as he set it on the table beside her.

"Oh, right," Lily said, her voice thick with tears that she was trying to hide. It seemed like everyone was tired of her today.

James started to shuffle off to join his friends but then paused. He could just barely make out a few stray tears dropping down Lily's cheek. With a heavy sigh, James turned around and walked back towards Lily.

"Mind if I sit here?" asked James as he pulled out the chair beside her.

"You don't have to, James. Go sit with your friends," Lily said, her voice quiet and her eyes hidden beneath her red hair.

"But I want to Lily. I mean, I promised myself at the end of last term that I wouldn't work next to Sirius anymore. Do you know how many times he's tried to splash me with his potion? I'm just glad that he's so miserable at Potions, because when he splashed me with the Draught of Living Death all it did was turn a spot on my robes a nasty green color. And besides, who better to help me with my potion than the top student in the class?" James said, grinning at her.

"I'm sorry about this morning, James," Lily blurted out before she could stop herself.

"It's ok, Lily, I know you've had a lot going on," James said, smiling.

"See, I can admit it when I'm wrong," Lily said pointedly, looking James in the eyes.

"I guess I have to jump off the astronomy tower now," James said, laughing.

"I guess you do. It's only fair," said Lily, smiling cheekily at him.

"So, are we friends now?" James asked.

"Yeah," Lily said, sniffling quietly and looking up to read the Potion that they would be making.

The day passed quickly for Lily. James sat beside her in every class, making her laugh at his jokes, giving her compliments, and proving that he was a lot smarter than she had ever thought. Hannah and Carrie still sat far away from Lily in each class, and although she had fun with James, she couldn't help being miffed at her two friends.

Lily had sat with the Marauders at lunch and was just sitting down next to James at dinner when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Lily, can we talk?" Hannah asked.

"What is it Hannah?" Lily asked, whirling around to look at Hannah who was looking very uncomfortable.

"Can we talk in the hall?" Hannah asked.

"No, Hannah. Just talk to me here," Lily said.

"Well, you're not going to get all angry and cause another scene, are you?" Hannah asked, looking all around her at the students who were talking and eating.

"Just talk, Hannah," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I think this fight you and Carrie are in is so dumb! This is our last year at Hogwarts and you're going to ruin it, Lily. Carrie isn't going to do it on her own, so can you just remember that she's one of your best friends and apologize," Hannah pleaded.

"No, Hannah, I don't think I want to apologize first. I've done that almost every time Carrie and I have ever gotten into a fight, and I'm sick of it! She started everything, so she's going to be the one to apologize first, or maybe I don't want to be friends with her anymore," Lily said.

"Lily, you're just being stubborn! Why does it matter who apologizes first?" Hannah asked.

"You just wouldn't understand. You may like being a doormat, but I don't! I won't be treated like that by anyone, let alone my best friend!" Lily growled.

"You know, Lily, no one really likes to be a doormat. Sometimes you just have to know when to give in, and with you and Carrie, if I didn't always give in, than none of us would have been friends past first year," Hannah said sadly.

"Hannah," Lily said sadly.

"No, I can see that this won't work. I'll see you later," Hannah said, walking back down the Gryffindor table to where Carrie was sitting.

Lily sank onto the seat, glaring at the Marauders as if warning them not to say anything. She was feeling sick to her stomach. It took a lot for Hannah to divulge anything that she was feeling. She wasn't as open as Lily and Carrie, and now that Lily saw how her friend had been feeling for a long time, she felt awful.

"Hey, Lily, are you going to do that trick where you shovel as much food into your mouth as humanly possible again?" Sirius asked, trying to break the tension. James glared at Sirius, knowing Lily would only lash out and probably stalk away. He knew he would follow her to talk to her, but the Shepherds Pie sitting on his plate looked really good and he would surely miss it once he left.

"Nope, I thought instead that we would all shovel food into your mouth and see how much you can take," Lily said, smiling back. Sirius sent James a triumphant look before proving that he was still the champion eater of the wizarding world. It was a very good thing that Sirius didn't know about Coney Island's famous hot dog eating competition.

Lily worked on homework quietly in the Head's common room that night. She had no idea where James had gone. He and the Marauders had disappeared after dinner. She whiled away the hours until she was to meet with Dumbledore, checking and rechecking her essay for Defense. It wasn't due for another two weeks, but Lily didn't have anything better to do. Lily just hoped that James remembered their meeting, although she didn't have much confidence in him.

At ten to eight Lily headed out of the common room toward Dumbledore's office. Once at the stone gargoyle, she muttered "ice mice" and the gargoyle leapt aside, revealing a moving staircase. Lily had never been in the Headmaster's office before, but she stepped onto the stairs and rode it up. At the top, she knocked on a shiny oak door.

"Come in, Miss Evans," called Dumbledore.

Lily entered the room. Just as she suspected, James wasn't there yet. Shaking her head, she peered around the room. There were portraits that Lily recognized as former Hogwarts Headmasters and Headmistresses. There were tons of strange objects that Lily had never seen before lying all around the office.

"Have a seat, Miss Evans. I'm sure Mr. Potter will be here soon," Dumbledore said, pointing to an overstuffed armchair that was sitting before his desk.

"Oh, thank you, Professor," Lily said.

"So, Lily, have you thought of what you're going to do after Hogwarts?" the Headmaster asked, picking up a bowl of sherbet lemons and offering it to Lily.

"Oh, no thanks, Professor. I have thought of many things, but I'm not really sure yet. I thought maybe I'd go into healing, or," Lily said.

At that moment a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in Mr. Potter," Dumbledore called from his chair. James entered the room breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Professor," James said, sitting down in the armchair next to Lily.

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter. Miss Evans and I were just discussing her future plans. Do you have any idea what you're going to do after Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked, offering him the bowl of sherbet lemons as well. James took one and popped it in his mouth before replying.

"Yes, Professor, I'm going to be an Auror. And as soon as I graduate, I'm joining the Order," James said confidently.

"I must say, Mr. Potter, that we'd be very glad to have you in our ranks," Dumbledore beamed from his chair, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Thank you, sir," James said, smiling back.

"Wait? The Order? What's that?" asked Lily.

"It's the resistance, Ms. Evans. It's the army that is fighting Voldemort and his deatheaters," Dumbledore explained.

"So there is a war going on, isn't there? The Daily Prophet just keeps saying that everything is fine," Lily said, frowning.

"You'll learn, Ms. Evans, that newspapers can't always be trusted. The Ministry thinks it is better for everyone to be ignorant of the war waging in our world. Perhaps if we all just ignore it, it will go away," Dumbledore explained.

"That's a load of," James began but stopped when he looked up into Dumbledore's eyes.

"Were you going to say Hippogriff feathers?" Dumbledore asked.

"Um, yeah," James said.

"Well, enough of that gloomy conversation. Let's talk about your duties as the Heads of Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

"Ok," James and Lily both agreed.

"As Head students, you will be responsible for patrolling the halls after curfew three days a week. The rest of the days you can divvy up between the prefects. Make sure that you pair the prefects up for patrolling. It's easier for them if there are two patrolling at a time," Dumbledore advised.

"Yes, Professor," James and Lily said together.

"Also, you are able to give detentions and take away House points without the permission of a faculty member. I expect that you will both use these responsibilities wisely," said Dumbledore, looking a few seconds longer at James than Lily.

"Of course, Professor," James and Lily said.

"Good, now, it is also the duty of the Head students to keep an eye on the students during Hogsmede trips. That's not to say that you can't enjoy yourselves and shop, but just make keep an eye out for anything that might cause a problem," Dumbledore said.

"Alright, Professor," James and Lily said.

"And finally, as we are in a war time, I would like you to be ready for anything. If there should come a time when the school is under attack," Dumbledore began.

"Hogwarts?" Lily couldn't keep herself from gasping.

"Yes, Ms. Evans. We don't know everything that the enemy is planning, and we must have safety precautions in place. If Hogwarts should ever come under attack, it will be your job to make sure that third year students and younger are evacuated," Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eyes dulled by the heavy conversation.

"Yes, Professor," Lily and James said.

"Good. That is all I have for you now. You need not worry about patrolling tonight, but tomorrow night you will be in charge of them. If you have any questions, you can always ask me or Professor McGonagall. Have a good night," Dumbledore said, rising and seeing Lily and James out of his door.

Dumbledore shut his door as Lily and James stepped onto the top stair. The stairs carried them down to the seventh corridor, where they only had a short walk to their common room.

"Lily," James said quietly as they walked through the entrance to their common room.

"Yes, James?" Lily said.

"I had a really good time hanging out with you today," James said, flopping onto the couch.

"Surprisingly, I did too," Lily said, sitting down on a chair next to the couch.

"Thanks, Lily. Now, how would you like to play a game?" James asked, walking to the cabinets. James had discovered a whole bunch of games stacked in one of the cupboards. Some of them he recognized, and some of them he had never seen before.

"Sure, what do we have?" Lily asked, sauntering over to where James stood.

"Hmm, there's Wizard's Chess, Gobstones, a mini-Quidditch game," James began rattling off.

"How about this one?" Lily asked, reaching into the cupboard and pulling out a game that she recognized.

"Uno? What's that?" James asked, moving closer so that he could look at the box. Lily could smell his woodsy scent and it almost overpowered. She looked up into his eyes and saw a whole bunch of emotions that she wasn't ready to deal with.

"Actually, I'm really tired. I should probably go to sleep," Lily said, throwing the packet of cards into the cupboard.

"It's 9 o'clock, Lily," James said confusedly.

"Yeah, well, I need to finish some homework. Um, see you tomorrow. Good night," Lily said, shuffling over to her room.

"Ok, then. Good night," James said, a look of confusion apparent on his face.

Lily closed the door behind her and flopped onto her bed. She was glad that she was friends with James. He was nice, funny, smart, thoughtful, and they had a lot in common, despite what she'd always thought. But she had only just seen all of this in the past couple of days and she wasn't ready to fall for him, no matter how charming and handsome he happened to be.

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AN: Well, there you have it! I will try to update by next Wednesday. In fact, I am just about to write the next chapter as soon as this is posted. I always intend to write ahead, but it never really works out, so if I'm lucky, I will get ahead during the remaining two hours of work. Shh! Don't tell my boss.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and that you'll come back for more! Reviews are always appreciated!

Thanks,

Littlemisskrissy


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Hello again everyone! I am so excited for this chapter! It's not just because I actually managed to put it up on time (a week from my last post! yay!) but I really like this chapter. So, I didn't really proofread it because I just finished it. I know, my plans for getting ahead didn't actually work. So I'm sure you'll find spelling and grammar mistakes, but please forgive me. All this will all point to the fact that I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own and scrap of Harry Potter. Enjoy the chapter!  


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"So, what's the plan, Prongs?" Sirius asked as he, Remus, Peter, and James met later that night beside the statue of the one-eyed witch. Lily had gone into her room hours ago, and James had been restless, wondering why she had acted so strangely. He'd even gotten ahead on his homework, he had been so bored.

"Well, it's somewhat complicated, but I think it will be worth it. Here's what we need to do," said James, whispering the plan to the Maruaders.

"Now I know why I've been friends with you so long, Prongs. I've just been waiting for this moment when you'd prove your worth," Sirius said in mock pride.

"Oh, shut it, Pads. I'm the one who's always asked myself why I bother hanging out with someone so brainless," James said, rolling his eyes.

"You really shouldn't talk about Moony that way, Prongs. He might not let you copy his homework anymore," Sirius said, a swaggering smile on his face.

"Or maybe I won't let _you_ copy my homework, Padfoot," Remus said, a smirk on his face.

"Hey, that's fine. I'll just copy Lily's," Sirius said, smirking at James.

"Yeah, right, Pads," said James.

"Can we be there for when he asks her? I never get tired of watching women slap Padfoot across the face," Peter said.

"In that case, then I'll just tell Lily that _you_ wanted to copy her homework. I'll be doing you a favor, Wormtail. It'll be the first girl that's ever come within ten feet of you," Sirius said, laughing.

"I think you're forgetting that I had a girlfriend last year, Pads," Peter said, showing just how much Sirius's teasing bothered him.

"Yeah, about that," Sirius began in a regretful tone, "we didn't want to tell you at the time, but none of us were sure she was actually a girl, Wormtail."

"And how many girlfriends have you had?" Peter asked pointedly.

"That's not my style, Wormtail. I'd rather love 'em and leave 'em wanting more," Sirius said, grinning cockily.

"More like they can't stand to be around you for more than two seconds," Peter said, rolling his eyes.

"As amusing as this isn't, we've got work to do," James said.

"Right, we have to live up to the Marauder tradition," said Sirius proudly.

"And catch everyone off guard because we're doing the prank the second day of school instead of the first," Remus said.

"And make sure that Lily doesn't ever find out that I was behind this," James said sadly.

"Prongs, she's going to know it was us," Remus said.

"I know, Moony. I just wish I could go one day without her screaming at me," James said, sighing.

"See, Wormtail, why would I want a girlfriend? They turn men into, into, that!" said Sirius, pointing at James.

"Oh, shut it, Pads, before I make you," James said.

"I don't think you can, lover boy," said Sirius, his posture tall and confident.

"You're going to wish you hadn't said that," James said, launching himself at Sirius and knocking him over.

Before too long James and Sirius were wrestling. Remus just rolled his eyes at his friends while Peter egged them on. After a few minutes, both James and Sirius were tired and they gave up, climbing back to their feet. Brushing dust from the floor off of themselves, they finally split up and headed off to prepare for the prank of all pranks.

Lily awoke the next morning wondering what had come over her. She had sat in her room the night before, completely bored and desperate to find something to do to take up the time. All of her homework for the next several weeks was already done, and she really didn't feel like doing homework anyway. She let her thoughts drift over James for a little while before she decided that she shouldn't let herself get carried away. It was thinking about James that had given her the strange idea to begin with. She had been thinking about how she secretly always loved the Marauder's pranks. She had to admit that they were usually pretty creative. And then she began to wonder what James would think if she were to pull a prank.

Lily dismissed the idea at first, but the more and more she thought about it, the more she like it. Maybe this would show James that she wasn't quite as stuck-up as he thought. It would show him that she could have just as much fun as he and his friends. And it would show the Marauders that they weren't the only ones capable of pulling pranks.

As Lily turned out the light to go to sleep that night, she had dozens of ideas floating through her brain. And right before she had fallen asleep she had come up with the perfect idea. It was good enough that it made her laugh whenever she thought about it, simple enough that she could get it done by herself, and friendly enough that, even if she were to get caught, she knew that she wouldn't actually get into trouble.

Lily showered and changed quickly that morning, throwing her hair into another messy bun. She didn't even care that she didn't have time to fix her hair, because she was too excited about the prank. Lily crept across the common room, careful not to make too much noise and accidentally wake James. As soon as she was in the corridor with the doors shut behind her, she raced down to the kitchen.

The kitchen was bursting with energy when Lily walked through the doors. House-elves were scurrying around preparing the food for that morning's breakfast. Huge pancakes were flipping themselves on one side of an enormous griddle, and bacon and eggs were frying on the other side. It took a minute for Lily to find Gretchen in all of the chaos, but once she did, she found that luck was on her side. Gretchen was standing in front of several pitchers that were filling themselves magically. _Perfect_, thought Lily.

"Good morning, Gretchen," Lily called to the house-elf.

"Oh, good morning, Ms. Evans! Did you fix everything with Mr. Potter?" Gretchen asked.

"Oh, yes, Gretchen. Thanks for the advice. Apologizing to him wasn't as bad as I thought," Lily said, rolling her eyes at herself.

"Oh, I knew you would work it out. You are both so cute together," Gretchen squeaked.

"Oh, um, thanks Gretchen," Lily said uncomfortably. "Gretchen, do you think you could help me with something?" Lily asked abruptly.

"Yes, Ms. Evans, what would you like?" Gretchen asked.

"Could you show me which pitcher goes in the middle of the Gryffindor table?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Well, we don't really have assigned pitchers," Gretchen said.

"If I put one aside, could you make sure that it goes in the center of the Gryffindor table?" Lily asked.

"Of course, Miss," Gretchen said.

"Great," Lily said, beaming at the house-elf.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" Gretchen asked.

"Actually, there is something, Gretchen. Do you think you could get me a chocolate chip biscuit? For some reason I'm really craving some chocolate today," Lily said sweetly.

"Alright, miss. I'll be right back, then," Gretchen said, walking towards the cupboards where food was stored.

Lily quickly chose a pitcher at random and muttered, "Sermo amoalius," into the orange liquid. Then she chipped a piece off around the bottom edge of the pitcher so that she would know not to drink from it.

Lily turned around quickly and was just in time to see Gretchen walking back towards her with a huge biscuit grasped in both of her hands. The biscuit was so big that it looked like it was almost the size of Gretchen's head. The House-elf was tipping from side to side, trying to keep herself from falling over.

"Here you go, Miss," Gretchen said, her little arms lifting the biscuit above her head to hand it to Lily.

"Oh, thanks, Gretchen. See you later," she called, dashing towards the Head's common room.

Lily walked quickly through the common room and to the bathroom. It was nearly time to go to the Great Hall for breakfast and she had to hurry. Once in the bathroom, she stood beside the tub. She took a deep breath and screamed as loud as she could, her voice reverberating through the high-ceilinged room.

Within seconds Lily saw James running into the bathroom, fully dressed for the day, and with his hair a little wet from the shower he had just had.

"Lily, what is it?"James asked anxiously.

"It's a spider, James! There was a huge spider that was crawling along the floor," Lily said, making herself shake with fright.

"You screamed like that because of a spider, Lily?" James asked incredulously.

"Hey, don't make fun of me! I'm really scared of spiders!" Lily said, clutching James's arm and standing closely behind him.

"Sorry. Well, where did it go?" James asked with a smile at Lily before he began glancing around the room.

"It crawled over there, James," Lily said, pointing to a spot on the other side of the tub, just next to the linen closet where all their towels were kept.

"Ok, Lily. Don't worry. I'll get it for you," James said, patting her on the shoulder before walking quickly to the other side of the tub.

James scanned the floor, looking for the spider. When he was standing right in front of the linen closet, Lily flicked her wand behind his back. The linen closet burst open with a bang and a large spider crawled out of it, making its way quickly towards James. He screamed loudly and backed up, only to realize that he had run out of floor, and that he was plunging backwards into the tub.

Lily couldn't help beaming as he plunged into the water. Phase one had worked even better than she'd hoped.

"James, are you alright?" Lily called once she was sure that no giggles were going to escape from her mouth.

"How did that spider do that?" James asked.

"I don't know, James. Can you just get rid of it?" Lily asked, still pretending to be scared.

"Alright Lily, I just need to find my wand. I think I dropped it when I fell," James said, swimming down to the bottom of the pool. Lily flicked her wand again now that James was preoccupied with finding his wand.

James came back to the surface of the water with his wand in hand and stepped out of the tub. It was all Lily could do to keep herself from falling on the floor in laughter. Because now James's clothes had changed completely into the costume of a pirate! He was wearing a brown leather three-corner hat on his head, a loose-fitting white shirt with a brown leather vest over it, tight-fitting blue pants, a boot on one foot, and a peg leg where the other foot should be. Lily had made it so that he wouldn't be able to see or feel his costume, he would think he was wearing his normal clothes, but the entire school, minus the rest of the Marauders, would be able to see it.

Lily enjoyed walking down the corridor to breakfast with James several minutes later. Laughter trailed them as they walked down the halls, and students gathered around as if they were watching a parade.

"What are they all looking at, Lily?" James asked, turning to Lily in confusion.

"I have no idea, James," Lily said, barely daring to breathe, knowing that if she did she would start laughing.

"Enjoying an early Halloween, Mr. Potter?"asked Dumbledore, who was walking towards the Great Hall just after them.

"Excuse me, Professor?" asked James.

"I merely meant that I quite like your costume," said Dumbledore.

"My costume?" asked James, looking down at his clothes.

"If you find the buried treasure, let me know. It is my castle after-all," Dumbledore said before heading over to the staff's table.

"Do you think Dumbledore has finally lost his marbles?" James asked Lily quietly as they walked into the Great Hall.

"Why do you ask?"

"Didn't you just hear what he said?" James asked.

"Maybe it's just one of his own private jokes," Lily suggested.

"Maybe," James said doubtfully.

"Look, there are the other Marauders," Lily said, pointing them out where they were sitting in the exact center of the Gryffindor table. They probably thought it was their idea to sit there. Lily smiled to herself as she walked down the aisle towards the Marauders. One down, three to go, she thought.

James could see that all eyes were on him as he walked down the aisle toward his friends. He was used to some stares from the female population of Hogwarts, but he wasn't really used to seeing people pointing at him all throughout the Great Hall. He was even less used to seeing people laughing as he walked by. What was going on with everyone today? Was he the only sane person in the whole school?

Besides Lily, of course. She seemed perfectly normal, if not a bit happier than usual. She just kept smiling at him, and he couldn't help thinking that after four years he had finally charmed her. He was glad that he hadn't really given up on her the day before, because he knew it was just a matter of time before she was completely his. What else could her smiles mean?

Sirius, Remus, and Peter all met James's glance with a smile and a wink, letting him know that the prank was all set in place. James winked back as he sat down beside Lily at the Gryffindor table. He immediately poured himself some pumpkin juice from the pitcher sitting in front of him and took an enormous gulp before turning to Lily.

"Arrr, would ye be likin' some ó the drink, matey?" he asked, turning to Lily.

"What did you say?" asked Lily, unable to stop herself from giggling at James's confused expression.

"I say, Lily, would ye be likin' some ó the pumpkin drink?" asked James again, looking frustrated as he realized what had just come out of his mouth.

"James, what are you doing? You didn't tell us it was talk-like-a-pirate day today," said Remus, shaking with laughter.

"I not be trying to talk like a pirate, matey," James said, glaring in frustration.

"Right," said Remus, rolling his eyes. He poured himself some pumpkin juice and Lily flicked her wand under the table before he took a huge gulp.

"Mooney, can you pass me the toast?" asked Peter.

"Well howdy, pardner, I'll just rustle some up for you and we'll have ourselves a shindig," said Remus, his eyes widening as he realized what he was saying. As he began to speak, Lily flicked her wand under the table again, and his clothes transformed before her eyes. He was now wearing a cowboy hat, leather chaps over faded jeans, a blue striped button-down shirt, and cowboy boots. It all looked so strange on Remus.

"Okay, has everyone here gone crazy?" asked Sirius, rolling his eyes at his friends.

"If anyone be crazy, it be you, you scurvydog," said James.

"Riiiight," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. He took a big gulp of the pumpkin juice that Lily had kindly poured for him. Lily again flicked her wand under the table.

"So, Padfoot, I believe you were supposed to ask Lily something," Peter said.

"Oh yeah. Like, oh my goodness, L, can I, like, copy your homework before class?" asked Sirius in a high-pitched, Valley-girl voice. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Sirius looked horrified. His cheeks reddened. It was the first time that Lily had ever seen him embarrassed about something.

With another flick of her wand, Sirius's clothes transformed into a magenta tutu, a glittery v-neck t-shirt, and chunky platform sandals. Lily couldn't help spraying the table with the water she was sipping as she caught a glimpse of him.

"Why, shucks, Padfoot, you sound dumb as a box of hammers," said Remus.

"What does that even mean?" asked Peter.

"I have no idea," said Lily. "Would you like some juice?" asked Lily, smiling sweetly and holding out the pitcher of Pumpkin juice to Peter.

"Um, alright," said Peter, pushing his cup forward. He took a long gulp and set the cup down half-empty, wiping his mouth with the back of his hands.

"Wormtail, would you, like, pass me the bacon. I'm sooo hungry!" said Sirius. His eyes widened as he realized how he was talking again.

"Grrr! Grrr!" grunted Peter, his eyes widening as he realized he couldn't talk. Lily flicked her wand under the table and Peter transformed into Frankenstein.

"Arrr, maties, it be about time to go to class," announced James as he stood up from the table. The three other boys and Lily rose from the table and followed him. Just as they were leaving, Lily caught the flick of James's wand from the corner of her eyes. All of a sudden, what looked like Owl feed fell from the sky above the Slytherin table. A hoard of owls swooped overhead, making their way to the table. As the Marauders and Lily exited the Great Hall, she could see that the Slytherins were trying to bat the owls away, some cowering under the table or making a run for it.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Lily suspiciously.

"We be doing nothing, Lily me beaute," said James.

"Black?" asked Lily.

"Like, I have no idea what you're talking about!" said Sirius in his high-pitched voice.

"Lupin?" asked Lily.

"Why shucks, Lily, you make me feel like a gnat in a hail storm, accusing me of a thing like that," said Remus, frowning.

"Oh no! I like, totally left my Transfiguration book in my room! Wormtail, Moony, Prongs, would you, like, help me find it?" asked Sirius.

"Grr! Grr!" grunted Peter.

"Why, sure Padfoot. I'd be happier than a gopher in soft dirt," said Remus.

"Arr, matey! I'll be seein' ye Evans," called James as he scurried down the hall after his friends.

"What be ye lookin' at, scurvy dogs?" asked James to a group of students that were pointing and laughing at James and his friends. The group of students just burst out laughing even harder as James wobbled away on his peg leg.

Twenty minutes later, the Marauders walked into the Transfiguration classroom. Lily watched them enter, trying to stifle her laughter. The entire classroom was watching the Marauders with mirth. James shuffled over to sit with Lily as he had done in every other class.

Lily saw Professor McGonagall look up from her desk and glance around the room at all the noise. Her eyes locked on the four Marauders, her expression amused.

"And what do we have here, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew?" asked McGonagall.

"Arr! What be ye meaning, Professor?" asked James. The class erupted with laughter.

"Is this another one of your pranks, gentlemen, cause I would hope that you had grown up by now," said McGonagall icily.

"Professor, I, like, totally don't know what you mean. Someone's pranked _us_!" said Sirius scandalously.

"Mr. Lupin. I suppose you're going to talk like a cowboy for the rest of my class?" asked McGonagall.

"Why Professor, you're quick as a hiccup!" said Remus.

"Mr. Pettigrew, what do you have to say for yourself?" asked Professor McGonagall stonily.

"Grr! Grr!" said Peter.

"I suspected as much! Well, you are not going to interrupt my lesson. Everyone, forget these gentlemen and their strange costumes and focus on the lesson," said McGonagall, shaking her head.

McGonagall had just lifted her wand to tap on the board when there was a very loud clanking from the hallway.

"What in heaven's name is going on out there?" asked McGonagall, sweeping to the door and opening it. The students rose from their seats and shuffled toward the door. They crept behind McGonagall so they could see what was going on in the hallway.

"Don't anyone leave this classroom while I go straighten this mess out!" said McGonagall, frowning. As McGonagall left the classroom, a huge wad of pink fluff flew into the classroom.

"What is that?" asked several of the students, peering up into the pink fluff.

"It looks kind of like cotton candy!" said Cassidy Hinkley.

"What?" asked half of the class.

"Cotton candy! It's a muggle treat at Fairs and Carnivals! It's good! Try some!" said Cassidy, standing on her chair and grabbing a chunk of it. When she pulled there was a clump of the fluffy pink stuff in her hand. She was about to put it in her mouth when McGonagall returned.

"Ms. Hinkley! What do you think you're doing?" snapped McGonagall.

"Try some, Professor! It's Cotton Candy!" said Cassidy, stuffing the candy in her mouth.

"Ms. Hinkley, you foolish girl! You don't know that it is safe to eat that!" said McGonagall.

"But now I do, and that is the best Cotton Candy I've ever had!" said Cassidy.

As she said that, the Cotton Candy began to expand. It covered over the entire ceiling of the classroom like a cloud. Students began jumping up onto their chairs, grabbing the pink fluff and stuffing it into their mouths. As more and more students began to eat the fluffy candy, more and more appeared. McGonagall was furious.

"Don't do that! Stop this right now! Do not eat any more candy!" she shouted above the excitedly chattering students.

"Reducio!" cried McGonagall as she pointed her wand at the ceiling. But as her spell hit the cloud of fluffy candy, it only expanded more until it was filling the ceiling to just above her head.

"Depulso!" cried McGonagall, flicking her wand towards the ceiling again. The candy expanded more until it was just above the heads of those few students who were still seated. McGonagall's head had disappeared. All Lily could see of her Transfiguration teacher were her red and black robes from the shoulders down.

"Follow me, students," McGonagall called in a muffled voice as she began walking towards the door and blasted it open. James grabbed Lily's hand and tugged her towards the door. All of the students followed, many of them grabbing chunks of the candy and stuffing it in their mouths. On her way out, Lily paused and reached her hand up and grabbed a chunk, stuffing it into her mouth. It was very sticky, but it was good.

"Lily," said James in shock, his eyes widening as he watched her put the candy in her mouth.

"What?" asked Lily, smiling at the extremely sweet taste of the candy.

"I can't believe ye be breaking school rules," said James.

"What? The candy tastes good, and besides, this isn't even the first school rule I've broken today," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Well shiver me timbers! I never knew ye be a rule-breaking lubber!" said James.

"Come on, matey, let's go see what's going on. McGonagall might need our help," said Lily, rolling her eyes as she pulled James into the hallway.

Even though he had planned all of this, James was still in awe of the chaos that met his eyes as he walked out into the corridor. A few feet to the left several of the suits of armor were bowling, rolling huge metal balls towards even bigger metal pins. Several Everlasting Wizbangs were zooming along the hallway, fireworks exploding in one corner and seeming to disappear until they reappeared further down the corridor, right in front of an unsuspecting student. The fireworks were in all different shapes. A giant Norwegian Ridgeback firework exploded right in front of McGonagall, followed by an ice cream sundae right in front of Filtch, who was running around the hall trying to catch the huge puffs of popcorn that were raining from the ceiling, muttering about hanging students by their thumbs. Peeves had joined in on the chaos. He began pelting students and teachers alike with streams of chocolate sauce. Pink, puffy clouds of cotton candy began descending from the ceiling.

Lily and James were scrambling around the hallway, dodging popcorn, chocolate sauce, and the fireworks when they ran right into Dumbledore, who had just come up the stairs to the hallway at the urging of Professor McGonagall's Patronus message.

"I see you've found the treasure after-all, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore with a smile and a wink as he hurried over to McGonagall.

James flicked his wand as discreetly as he could and carnival music began playing. As Dumbledore reached McGonagall, as the music descended, he grabbed her hand and waist and began twirling her around the corridor. McGonagall, to everyone's shock, had a beaming smile on her face.

Just then, horses, elephants, cheetahs, hippogriffs, a giant squid and many other kinds of creatures appeared in the corridor. They were all on polls like a merry-go-round and they began nudging several students as if asking them to climb on. A light brown stag on a pole appeared next to Lily, nudging her with its head. Lily stroked its soft fur, in awe of its beauty. Glancing around the corridor, Lily saw James climbing up on the back of a green and black dragon. Catching Lily's eye, James smiled at her, nodding for her to climb up on her own animal. Lily did so, and once she was seated the stag began to canter down the corridor.

"Ahoy, matey! You'll not catch me!" called James as he flew by Lily, his dragon flapping its large wings steadily.

"That's what you think, James! I'm going to beat you!" called Lily, kicking the sides of her Stag and making it run even faster down the corridor after James.

James flew over the shifting staircase, but as he looked behind, he saw that Lily was a few seconds too late. The staircase began to move just before Lily's Stag had gotten all of its feet on the top stair. James flew back and made it just in time to swoop under Lily and catch her. She was now cradled in his lap, peering up into his twinkling hazel eyes as the dragon flew them down the fifth-floor corridor. They were passing murmuring portraits and more suits of armor that seemed to be playing a game of quidditch through the length of the corridor, riding invisible brooms, but James barely noticed. Lily was looking at him so intently, like she was studying each inch of his face, seeing things she had never seen before. James lifted his hand to touch her soft cheek.

"Like, that was totally great, Prongs! Best prank ever!" said Sirius from behind Lily and James. James dropped his hand, turning to shoot a warning look at Sirius, who was riding a hippogriff.

"That was all you?" asked Lily tonelessly.

James stared at the chaos around him. He nudged the dragon sideways as a mace that was being used as a bludger flew by them. He tried to prepare himself for when the screaming would begin.

"Prongs did tell you, Evans? He like, totally came up with all of this on his own!" said Sirius when Lily didn't say anything, pulling his hippogriff right beside their dragon.

"Avast ye seadog, get ye gone before I send you to Davy Jones 's locker, savvy?" threatened James.

"Like you would do anything to me," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "I'm totally going to tell your mom about this, she's, like, going to ground you forever!"

"Dead men tell no tales, matey," said James angrily.

Sirius turned his hippogriff in the opposite direction and flew away once he caught James's murderous glance. James could hear his laughter echoing down the hallway as he flew the dragon towards the Great Hall and out of the front doors. The dragon touched down beside the lake, lowering into a sitting position so that James and Lily slid off his back.

Taking a deep breath and running his hands through his hair, James turned to face Lily who was lounging on the grass beside him.

"Me lassie, I know ye be really, really angry with me right now, but," James began. As he reached the end of his sentence, he realized that he really didn't have an excuse, so he faltered.

"I'm not mad at you, James," said Lily casually.

"Well blow me down! Ye not be mad at me?" asked James, sinking down into the grass beside Lily. The lake was glittering in the early morning sunshine, the Giant Squid splashing through the water.

"No, James. I thought it was really funny," said Lily, smiling at James.

"What be ye playing at me heartie?" asked James suspiciously.

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I don't spend all my time worrying about the rules? Is it so hard for you to believe that I can occasionally even break the rules?" asked Lily indignantly.

"Well, Lily, me beaute, yar," said James seriously.

"That is just so typical, James! You think that I'm just a boring rule-follower, but you're wrong!" said Lily vehemently.

"Well batten down the hatches, matey. Ye be gettin' carried away! I don't think ye be some boring lass. If it be true, I wouldn't be wanting to be with ye so much," said James seriously, taking Lily's hand.

"But you don't think that I can pull pranks like you and the Marauder, do you?" asked Lily, pulling her hand out of his.

"Lily, me beaute, ye be a great lass, but ye not be no prankster! Ye just don't have it in ye. But tha's fine. I be likin' ye for who ye arr," said James.

"We'll just see, Potter," Lily muttered angrily under her breath.

"What be ye sayin' Lily?" asked James.

"We should probably go, James. They might've cleared the halls by now," said Lily, standing up from the grass and striding towards the castle without another word to James.

The halls had not been cleared by the time James and Lily returned to the corridor of their Transfiguration classroom. McGonagall was striding up and down the corridor, trying every spell she could think of to clear the mess, but every time she cast a new spell, the cotton candy would expand, the popcorn would rain down heavier and harder, and more and more fireworks would appear.

"Whoever is responsible for this _will_ clean this mess up before I return from the loo," McGonagall called as she strode toward the bathroom, covered in chocolate syrup and looking very stern.

"James, maybe you should," began Lily, but James was already clearing the mess with a few swipes of his wand and spells muttered under his breath.

When McGonagall returned, she swept all of her students into her classroom and resumed her lesson.

The day passed pretty normally for Lily, at least. The Marauders, however, had an infuriating day. They were so angry that they refused to talk at all, not even to answer all of their professors' questions about their strange appearance and speech. Anywhere they went they were followed by stares and laughter. It was getting to be so much that the Marauders were furious by dinner time.

"Like, who did this to us? This need to stop, I can't take any more of it!" whined Sirius, staring around at all the people who were looking at him.

"Grrrr! Grrr!" grunted Peter.

"Peter matey, ye know we can't understand ye!" said James in irritation.

"Hey, James, why don't you go treasure hunting over here? We've got some pretty nice booty," said Mira Vane from where she was sitting father down the table.

James just rolled his eyes.

"Shucks, boys, who do you think could have done this?" asked Remus tiredly.

"Like, what about Snape?" asked Sirius.

"No," they all snorted.

"That landlubber wouldn't be havin' enough brains to be doing a thing like this," said James.

"We've tried like, everything to get this to stop, and nothing works!' griped Sirius.

"We be needin' to find out which barnacle did this, and then we be threatenin' them until they reverse the spell," said James.

"Alright, boys. Now we're cooking with hot water! Who would do this?" asked Remus. He peered at Lily curiously but then shook his head.

"What about that, like, Fords kid. Didn't he, like, worship us last year and try to copy some of our pranks?" asked Sirius.

"Ay matey, but he be not smart enough," said James thoughtfully.

"Oh yeah. He like, totally got buried under a snowbank when he tried to start the second school-wide, indoor snowball fight," said Sirius, chuckling.

"Arr, what about that scurvy dog, McMullins?" asked James.

"Why, good golly, James, that buffoon graduated last year," said Remus.

"Then who be doing this to us?" asked James, pounding the table with his fist. The cups and plates in front of the Marauders and Lily jumped. Lily couldn't help laughing.

"Evans," began Remus suddenly.

"Yes Lupin?" asked Lily, still laughing.

"Ye can't be serious, Moony. It can't be this lass," said James, pointing at Lily.

"Why, shuck, Prongs. I wouldn't want to be Sirius," said Remus with a wink. The rest of the table groaned.

"You think you're so smart, James, but you're wrong! It was me! I pranked you!," said Lily with a smirk.

"Me own Lily, to see ye be turnin' to a life o' crime. Dumbledore'll be makin' ye walk the plank!" said James.

"But there's something else you don't know about. I didn't just charm your pumpkin juice to make you talk like a pirate, and Lupin talk like a cowboy, and Black talk like a valley girl, and Pettigrew talk like Frankenstein," said Lily.

"Well, what else be ye up to?" asked James impatiently.

"Well, haven't you wondered why people have been staring at you all day?" asked Lily with a bright smile on her face.

"Well, me matey, I don't think ye'll be too surprised that it was cause of me devilish good looks," said James, smirking right back at Lily.

"Wrong, James Potter. You're not _that_ good-looking!" scoffed Lily.

"Lily, why don't ye just rip out me heart!" said James in mock-offense.

"Follow me boys," said Lily, getting up from the table.

"But I like, totally wasn't finished with my dinner!" wailed Sirius.

"We can always sneak down to the kitchens later," said Lily off-hand.

"I think she be losing her mind," said James quietly to the others.

"Be quiet you prat, and follow me," said Lily, smacking his shoulder before she grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the hall.

"Evans, you say we've been dressed like this all day!" said Sirius indignantly as he stared in the mirror that Lily had conjured in the heads common room. She had removed the spell that made the boys unable to see their costumes. The other boys had mostly laughed at their costumes, but Sirius was mad.

"Well, yeah, Black. I didn't really think you'd be upset," said Lily.

"And why's that?" asked Sirius haughtily.

"Well, you got to show the whole school what nice legs you have," said Lily off-hand.

"Evans, I never knew you felt that way. Don't let your feelings stay hidden any longer," said Sirius, putting his arm around Lily's shoulders and pulling her closer.

"Eh-hem," said James loudly.

"Right, Evans. I'm sorry, but your strange fantasy of my handsome, muscular legs must be just a thing of dreams. Prongs will forever be an obstacle to our love," said Sirius in mock-sorrow.

"Shove off, Black. I'd say the fact that I find you repulsive is an even bigger obstacle," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, Prongs, I tried to warn you she was into me," said Sirius.

"Do you want to hex him, or shall I?" asked James as he pointed his wand at his best friend.

It was hours later and James and Lily were walking along the dark, empty corridors on patrol. For the past fifteen minutes they had been silent and Lily could tell that it was driving James crazy. She just smiled, enjoying the quiet evening, knowing that it wouldn't last for long. She was glad that so far they hadn't caught anyone out after curfew, but she knew that as the term continued, more and more students would try to sneak out.

"Lily," James said suddenly, the quiet getting to be too much for him.

"Yes, James?" asked Lily in a whisper. It felt strange to talk normally in such a dark, quiet place.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was wrong," said James.

"About?" asked Lily casually.

"About you, actually. You pulled off a brilliant prank today," said James proudly. He was now in his normal clothing, although he had kept the pirate clothing in his trunk.

"Thanks. As did you," said Lily appreciatively. She could just make out James's handsome face in the moonlight that was pouring through the windows.

"And, now I know you're brilliant at pranks, how would you like to help the Marauders on our next one? I've got a great idea for it, but maybe you could help with the details," said James enthusiastically.

"Um, as great as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass," said Lily.

"What? But why?" asked James in disappointment.

"Well, I only did my prank because I knew I wouldn't get in trouble. But you and the Marauders tend to go all out. You got detention for today, didn't you?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, and all because a certain knight with a fat pony overheard Sirius selling me out to you and told McGonagall! I don't think I've ever seen her that mad!" said James, laughing as he remembered her murderous glares. He hadn't wanted to mention it, but there was still a little bit of pink candy floating towards the top of her classroom.

"It was great, though. The most fun I've had in ages," said Lily.

"Oh, just wait until our next prank, Lily. It's going to be bigger and better!" said James with a mischievous look on his face.

"Try not to get yourself sent to Azkaban. Believe it or not, I'd actually miss you," said Lily with a wry smile on her face.

"Are you aware, Lily, that that's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me?" asked James with a beaming smile on his face.

"Oh, come on, James. Don't let it go to your head," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Why, because then I'd be drifting to the ceiling, just like the cotton candy above us?" asked James, pointing to where a cloud of cotton candy was following them.

"James, you better not let McGonagall catch you!" said Lily, laughing as she jumped to reach the candy.

"Relax, Lily. This is the last bit, and as soon as your done, I'll clear it away," said James, rolling his eyes.

"You saved it for me?" asked Lily.

"Of course, me beaute, I'd walk to plank for the love of ye!" said James.

"James, you're so lame sometimes," said Lily, shaking her head.

"But you love me anyway," said James shoving some cotton candy in Lily's mouth before she could protest.

* * *

AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter because I really enjoyed writing it. Feel free to review on your way out!

LittleMissKrissy


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hello everyone! I'm back, and only a week after my last post!

I don't really have much to say right now, other than to tell you that I do not own Harry Potter or any of the world/characters.

Well, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Lily, I found you," called James, standing before her and wearing only his Quidditch pants. His delicious shoulder and ab muscles muscles gleamed in the low moonlight that was filtering through the trees of the forest.

"James, help," called Lily from where she was being circled by a swarm of Death Eaters. She was backed up into a tree with nowhere else to go, staring anxiously at the hooded and masked figures coming closer and closer.

"Stay calm. I'm going to get you out of there," said James bravely, brandishing his wand.

"Hurry, James," Lily cried, pushing herself as much into the trunk of the tree as she could. Even still, the Death Eaters weren't far. She looked over again to where James had been standing and panicked when she didn't see him anymore.

Before Lily could understand what was happening, James had swooped her up in front of him on his broomstick and placed her on his lap. As they zoomed away from the Death Eaters and towards the castle, Lily clutched tightly to James's bare chest.

"Oh, thank you James!" cried Lily gratefully.

"You don't need to thank me, Lily. I did it because I love you," said James, bending down to give her a kiss.

"Lily, Lily," James said gently in her ear as he gave her a big bear hug.

"Oy! Lily!" James shouted. Lily opened her eyes and sprang out of bed, noticing the fully-dressed James standing over her.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing in my room, Potter!" Lily screamed, her cheeks warming as she thought about her dream. His naked chest, the kiss that they had shared, him whispering in her ear. It was too much to see James first thing when she woke up after the dream she had just had. It was hard not to blur reality and fantasy and think about James bending down to kiss her right then.

"I knew it!" cried James excitedly, peering down at Lily.

"I'm going to give you exactly five seconds to explain yourself or get out!" said Lily heatedly, glaring up at James. Behind her bright green eyes, the image of dream James kissing her was proving very difficult to erase.

"I knew you were a closet Quidditch fan!" said James, pointing at the oversized Chudley Cannons t-shirt that she had worn to bed. Lily lunged for the covers and wrapped them around herself as she realized she was wearing her tiny pair of boy shorts.

"I never said I didn't like Quidditch. I just said that it isn't on my brain 24/7 like it is on yours," said Lily grouchily.

"Quidditch isn't the only thing I ever think about Lily," said James, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah, and what else do you think about?" asked Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I think a lot about food too. Especially right now, since it's breakfast-time," said James.

"What?" screamed Lily, peering up at the clock on her wall. She threw the covers down and raced to the bathroom when she saw how late it was. She had really overslept this time! If she wanted to grab a quick breakfast before class, she would need to get ready in fifteen minutes.

Lily raced through her shower and threw her hair up in another messy bun, her mind preoccupied with thoughts of James, and then with scolding herself for thinking about him. Lily peered once more in the mirror before racing out through the common room, thinking that if she kept wearing her hair in a frizzy mess on the top of her head, even James would stop asking her out.

"Nice towel, Lily," said James from where he was sitting on the couch, playing with his model Quidditch set.

"Potter, you really don't want to mess with me right now," growled Lily as she slammed the door of her room. She changed quickly and walked back out into the common room.

"So, you ready to go?" James asked, getting up from the couch and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Yeah, let's go," said Lily, stalking out of their common room without waiting for him.

"You look really nice today, Lily," James said as he walked quickly to catch up.

"Oh, shut it, James. I don't have the patience for your teasing today," said Lily as she walked even quicker down the corridor, gliding past the now motionless suits of armor and paintings, seeing none of these things. All she saw were a pair of very nice lips and messy black hair coming closer and closer to her.

"I'm not teasing, Lily. I like your hair like that, with the curls hanging on the sides of your face. It's really pretty," said James, smiling up at her as he kept stride with her effortlessly.

"Erm, thanks, James," said Lily, blushing slightly as she turned to head down the steps. There was a slight pause in the conversation.

"And I was really impressed with your potion yesterday. It looked exactly like it was supposed to," said James suddenly.

"Thanks," said Lily testily. She had been very proud of the potion she had made the other day, and of course Slughorn had been beside himself with joy, but she was suspicious about why James was bringing it up now.

"And the shirt you're wearing today. It's so pretty. That shade of green makes your eyes really stand out," James continued after another slight pause, looking up at Lily expectantly. He looked like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"Alright, James, what's going on?" asked Lily, turning quickly in the middle of the corridor to peer up at him irritably. He stopped himself just before he crashed into her. They were closer than she normally allowed. She couldn't help staring at his lips.

"What? Nothing," James said abruptly, refusing to meet her eyes.

"What do you want?" growled Lily, clearing her head as she stared at the floor. And once her head was cleared, she had a pretty good idea what was going on. James was probably going to ask her out again. She sighed. At least he had gone a whole week without pestering her about going out with him. And at least she was now level-headed, so she wouldn't do anything stupid, like say yes.

"What do you mean, what do I want? Can't I just give you a few compliments?" asked James hopefully.

"Well, if you were a normal guy, than I would say yes, but I know you James, and I know there's something you want to ask me," said Lily impatiently.

"Who told you? Was it Sirius?" asked James suspiciously, glaring at the idea.

"No, James. No one needed to tell me because I already knew," said Lily. Honestly, why James thought he was being slick about it was beyond her.

"So I guess the answer is no," said James sadly, walking slowly away from Lily.

"James," Lily said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop, "I think you're really great. I've really seen that you've changed a lot over the summer, but, I just think we'd be better off as friends for now," Lily said calmly, trying her hardest not to hurt James's feelings. She really did think he was a great friend, but she didn't want to rush into a relationship with him, despite the images of her dream flooding through her as she held onto his arm.

"Wait, Lily, what are," James began.

"No, let me finish, James. I don't know. Maybe in the future things will be different, but right now I just want to get to know you better and see where things go. I'm really sorry if you're upset or hurt," said Lily sincerely, her mouth working and saying the correct things, but her imagination betraying her very dangerously.

"Lily, I don't think we're talking about the same thing," said James loudly, cutting Lily off and pulling his arm out of her grasp.

"Huh?" asked Lily.

"I'm not asking you out," said James bluntly.

"You're not?" asked Lily, blushing madly again. She wished that she had bothered with her hair that morning, because if she had, then she would be able to let it fall between them so she didn't have to see his amused expression.

"No, Lily. Are you disappointed?" asked James, a smile on his lips.

"Of course not, Potter! In case you weren't paying attention, I just turned you down," said Lily irritably, turning and walking quickly toward the Great Hall.

"Yeah, although you did admit that you'd consider going out with me in the future," said James, his smile widening.

"Oh please, Potter. Don't flatter yourself! I was just trying to let you down gently now that we're friends," said Lily, rolling her eyes but her blush deepening at the same time.

"Right," said James with his trademark irritating smirk on his face.

"So, what _did_ you want to ask me then?" asked Lily irritably.

"Oh, um. I wanted to ask you, if it would be okay, if," James stuttered, looking nervous.

"James, just ask me. I'm not going to bite your head off," said Lily as reached the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Are you willing to make the unbreakable vow?" asked James.

"James, really, just ask me already," said Lily, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Alright, Lily. The Marauders and I were thinking," James began.

"Never a good thing," Lily said under her breath.

"Is she in?" asked Sirius who was gliding into the Great Hall behind them.

"In on what?" asked Lily suspiciously.

"Shut it Pads, I haven't asked her yet," hissed James.

"Oops. See you later. I really don't want to be near her when you ask," said Sirius before he hurried past them to join the other Marauders.

"James, what in the name of Merlin's socks is going on!" said Lily angrily.

"Ok, see. Here's the thing. The Marauders and I were thinking about having a little, um, homework party?" said James, his voice going up in pitch as he ended.

"A homework party?" asked Lily in confusion. "Do the Marauders actually _do_ homework?"

"Of course. Moony does it all the time," said James off-handly.

"Ok, so what does this have to do with me?" asked Lily. They were standing right before the Gryffindor table, James fidgeting nervously with the strap of his book bag, and Lily staring at him curiously. She never knew James to act nervous; she hadn't thought it possible with how arrogant he always acted.

"Um, well, it's going to be tonight," said James.

"Ok?" asked Lily.

"In the Gryffindor common room," added James carefully.

"Ok?" asked Lily, narrowing her eyes at James, who still refused to look her in the eye.

"And we're inviting all Gryffindors and some of the cooler Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws," added James quietly.

"For a homework party?" asked Lily, knowing where this was going.

"Well, when I say homework, what I mean to say is that, some people might be practicing some spells. You know, to accio some food or drinks to them, and maybe to make a bottle spin," said James sheepishly.

"Potter!" Lily growled, marching over to where the Marauders were sitting.

"I take it she said no," said Sirius glumly as he waved his wand over his pumpkin juice before taking a sip. All of the Marauders had started checking their drinks and food before eating or drinking. Lily usually smiled whenever she saw it, but this time she just ignored it, instead glaring at James.

"Well, come on now, Lily. We've all worked really hard in the term so far. Don't you think we all deserve some fun?" asked James as they sat with the other Marauders, ignoring Sirius.

"We haven't even been back a week yet! And sure, have fun, have as much fun as you want, but I won't let you have a party," said Lily firmly.

"You won't _let_ me?" asked James incredulously.

"That's right Potter. We're Head students now; we can't just break the rules whenever we feel like it!" said Lily indignantly.

"Oh, so it's ok when you break the rules, but not when I do?" asked James angrily.

"Oh please, Potter. What I did is _nothing_ compared with the drinking and fooling around that will go on at your _homework party!_" screamed Lily.

"Homework party?" asked Sirius in disgust, looking like saying the word was chocking him.

"Lily, come on!" said James huffily.

"Besides, we have patrol tonight, so you can't have a party," said Lily triumphantly.

"No, that's perfect. Then the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws can get to the Gryffindor common room after curfew without worrying about getting caught!" beamed Sirius. Lily caught the glare that James sent him over his shoulder.

"And why wouldn't they have to worry? I will have to give anyone who is out after curfew a detention, regardless of if I know them or am friends with them," said Lily pointedly. It would be better if the Marauders realized early on that they wouldn't be getting any special treatment from her.

"Lily, don't you want to enjoy your last year at Hogwarts? I swear to Merlin, Lily, you have no idea how to have fun," said James sadly.

"I do too know how to have fun, James. I just don't think that having McGonagall come stalking down to the Gryffindor common room in the middle of the night and being caught there is anywhere near fun," said Lily.

"You know what, Lily, you need to calm down. This is our last year to do reckless, stupid things, and not think about the consequences. You'll have the rest of your life to worry about responsibility. Can't you just," said James.

"No, James. I forbid you to have this party. Now, if you want, we can all play a game from the cupboard tonight. It'll be plenty of fun _and_ we won't get into trouble," Lily said, trying to be placating.

"You _forbid_ me! You can't forbid me to do anything, Lily! You are not the boss of me, and if I want to have a party, then I will!" screamed James.

"Well, good luck with your party, then, because _I'll_ just have to tell McGonagall," threatened Lily.

"Why? Why are you doing this, Evans?" growled James.

"Because, we're the Head students, and we can't be seen fooling around. I _will not_ give McGonagall another reason to call me down to her office," said Lily stubbornly.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have started that fight with Carrie. That wasn't very _responsible_ of you," said James.

"I didn't start that fight, James. It was all Carrie's fault," shrieked Lily.

"Whatever you want to think, Lily," said James.

"I didn't James. She threw that Pumpkin Juice in my face. I just reacted," said Lily.

"Maybe you didn't throw the first punch, but you were sitting there acting superior just like you always do, just like you're doing now. Carrie was so right about you," said James, not realizing how harsh the words were until they were already hanging in the air between them.

"I can't believe I actually thought we were beginning to be friends," said Lily, pushing her plate back forcefully with a clatter and stalked out of the Great Hall, breathing heavily because of the anger rolling over her. And because of the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Prongs, do you think you were maybe a little harsh?" asked Sirius as they walked to their Herbology lesson.

"When you hear that from Sirius, you know it's bad," observed Remus.

"Maybe, but what I said was completely true. She's just so frustrating all the time!" said James irritably.

"I know, mate, which is why you should just forget about her. She's more trouble than she's worth," said Sirius.

"Well after tonight, I doubt she'll ever speak to me again, so I guess I'd better give up," said James wearily.

"After tonight?" asked Peter.

"We're still having the party?" asked Sirius excitedly.

"But what about McGonagall?" asked Remus.

"Of course we're still having the party! I _am not_ letting Lily win!" declared James heartily.

"But how are we going to do it?" asked Peter.

"The Marauders aren't afraid of McGonagall! So we'll get another detention on our record. We've only gotten one so far. I think that's a record, right Prongs?" asked Sirius.

"Of course the Marauders aren't afraid of McGonagall, but why get a detention when we don't have to," said James.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Sirius impatiently.

"Calm down. I have it all planned out," said James, a smirk on his face. But when he watched Lily meekly sliding into the classroom just seconds before the class started, red rimming her eyes, and stopping to stand by herself at the front of the class, his smile faded a bit.

Lily ducked into the loo after a very miserable Herbology lesson. She was full of anger and, although she didn't want to admit it, hurt. James words kept replaying in her head and it made her so upset that she couldn't focus on the lesson at all. She had just stood by herself at the front of the class, shaking with rage.

Now she slumped onto the floor, tears leaking down her face. Now she really didn't have anyone, and it was all James fault! She wasn't friends with Carrie now because she had taken James's side, and she wasn't friends with James now because he had been immature and wanted to throw a stupid party! Of course she had to stop the party! That was her job as the Head Girl!

As she was thinking all this, the door to the loo burst open. Lily quickly wiped the tears away from her face and looked up to see Carrie striding in through the door. Great, thought Lily, Carrie was the one person who can actually make all this worse.

"Oh, poor Evans, even Potter doesn't want to be friends with you anymore," said Carrie as she peered at herself in the mirror.

Lily ignored her, rising to her feet and making her way to the door.

"And you do know why, right Evans? Why no one wants to be friends with you? It's because you're a boring, rule-following loser. What would Potter, one of the hottest, funniest, most fun boys in Hogwarts want with a bore like you?" asked Carrie, all as she indifferently put lip potion on her lips.

"At least I'm not a petty loser who stalks into a bathroom, sees one of her oldest friends crying, and comes to kick her while she's down," said Lily, throwing the bathroom door open and walking quickly to the Head common room, where she walked through quickly to her room and lay down on her bed. She didn't even bother to get up to go to the rest of her morning classes, or lunch when the time came, or even any of her afternoon classes. Lily just lay on her bed, staring at the wall where she, Carrie, and Hannah all laughed and talked animatedly.

Patrolling that night was extremely tense. Lily walked quickly and rigidly, while James lagged behind, watching her back. He was still miffed at her, but he was also worried. The fact that she hadn't gone to lunch, dinner, or any of her classes besides Herbology was so unlike her that it made him think that he had really hurt her. At the time, he had wanted to hurt her. But now that he saw here rigid back, he felt awful.

The corridors were quiet. Even the one leading to the Gryffindor common room, which Lily kept coming back to every fifteen minutes, was completely deserted. James knew why, and he wasn't eager for the patrol to end. He had an idea just how angry Lily would be when she found out that the party had been moved to their Head common room. And he knew she would be even angrier when she found out that they had put a spell on the door so that once she entered the common room, she wouldn't ever be able to talk to any professors or staff about the party.

The time ticked by way too quickly as Lily continued to walk fast and ignore James. The next time he looked at his watch, there were only five minutes left of patrol, and he felt his heartbeat speed up. If only he could figure out a way to keep her away from the common room until he could get the party moved somewhere else. What he had thought was a brilliant idea was turning into a nightmare. If Lily walked into their common room and saw the party, she would _never_ talk to James again!

"Hey, Lily," said James suddenly.

"What do you want?" Lily whipped around sharply and glared at him.

"Um, do you want to stop by the kitchens? I'm kind of hungry," said James.

"Trying to score some food for your party?" asked Lily, her face a mask of anger.

"No, Lily, we don't get food from the kitchens for our parties," said James distractedly.

"Then where do you get it?" asked Lily suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Um, that's not important. I was just wondering if you wanted to go get a snack with me. I know you weren't at dinner," said James.

"What? Are you keeping tabs on me now, Potter?" asked Lily scathingly.

"No, Evans. It was pretty easy to notice that you weren't in classes or at lunch or dinner. So, do you want to go to the kitchens or not?" asked James hopefully, running his hand through his hair, making it stick up all over.

"Not, Potter. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and be a superior bore in my room," said Lily, walking quickly toward the seventh floor.

"Lily, I, I'm sorry I said that," said James hastily.

"But you still think it's true," said Lily pointedly.

"I never said you were boring, Lily," said James.

"Potter," said Lily.

"What do you want me to say, Lily? You could have fun with us. You could have a great time at the party. No one is going to force you to do anything that would break the rules. You're a Gryffindor, so you wouldn't get in trouble for being out after curfew. You don't have to drink any firewhisky, so you wouldn't get in trouble for that either," said James.

"It's not going to happen," said Lily stubbornly, walking towards the door to their common room.

"Lily, why do you have to be so controlled all the time? Have you ever even done anything impulsive?" asked James.

"Why does it matter? I don't see anything desirable in being impulsive," said Lily.

"Of course you wouldn't," said James, rolling his eyes.

"Good night, Potter," said Lily, wrenching open the door to their common room.

Lily stood in the doorway of her common room with her eyes bugging out of her head. There was a mass of bodies crowded into the room, people dancing in the far left corner of the room, several people gathered in groups talking in the middle of the room, and several couples who looked very cozy on the couches.

"Potter!" screamed Lily loudly. Several people looked over at her, rolling their eyes and turning back to what they were doing when they saw that it was Lily.

"Lily, will you dance with me?" said James.

"You are a bloody prat, James. If you think that I'm just going to forget about all of this and dance with you then," screamed Lily.

"I'll dance with you," purred Carrie, smirking at Lily as she walked toward James. She was wearing a short black dress, towering heels, and her dark brown hair down in ringlet curls. Lily was filled with rage as she watched Carrie place her hand on James's shoulder.

"Carrie, that's really nice of you, but," began James.

"Oh, Lily, I didn't see you there. I guess you were just too boring for me to notice. Come on, James. You don't want to talk to Lily for too long, you might fall asleep," said Carrie with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Carrie, get off me," said James, pulling his arm from her grasp.

"Oh, don't worry about hurting her feelings, James. She's got to learn at some point that all the attention that you've given her has all been a part of a running bet between you and the rest of the Marauders that you couldn't get Lily to go out with you before the end of Hogwarts," said Carrie vindictively. Lily wanted so badly to shove her head into the missing step right at that moment.

"Lily, that's not true," said James, glaring at Carrie.

"You know what, Carrie. I don't care! Now get your skanky face away from me!" Lily screamed and shoved through the crowd to her room.

She sat fuming on her bed for several minutes, chucking whatever objects she could get her hands on at the picture of Carrie on the wall who kept shrieking in terror. But that wasn't making her feel any better. There was only one thing that would make her feel better, and that was revenge. She sat thinking about how it would be best to get her revenge on both Carrie and James before she came up with an idea. As soon as the idea came to her, she rose from the bed and got to work.

Lily felt extremely awkward as she crept out of her room fifteen minutes later. She was wearing an extremely short blue dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, a pair of silver sandal high-heels, and her hair was sweeping over her shoulders in waves. She knew she looked great, but she couldn't help tugging at the bottom of the dress in a futile effort to stretch the fabric to cover a little more of her legs. She knew she must look ridiculous and that it was only a matter of time before people started noticing and began to laugh at her.  
Lily had just turned around and began to retreat back into her bedroom when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder at the same time that a deep, masculine voice called, "What is your name and where have you been hiding all term?"  
Lily turned around and saw Jason standing in front of her, a slightly goofy smile on his face. She smiled up at him, trying to be sexy but not quite sure if she was pulling it off. It all felt kind of awkward to her, as she had never in her life attempted to be sexy for anyone.  
"Oh, hello Jason," said Lily warmly, placing a hand on his muscular shoulder.  
"Lily? Is that you? I didn't recognize you," said Jason, looking slightly dazed.  
"Of course it's me, Jason. Do you like my dress?" asked Lily in what she hoped was a coy tone. She shook her hips so that the fabric swished around her thighs. As she shook her hips, she noticed a group of guys that were crowded around her in a circle. She felt nerves creeping over her as she noticed all of the guys staring at her, and she thought again about crawling back to her room. She was almost resolved to do just that when she saw a certain Marauder walk by. He didn't notice her yet, but he would.  
"Oh yeah," said Jason, beaming at her, "you look hot!"  
"Thanks," said Lily, smiling widely at him.  
"Can I get you a drink, Lily?" asked a boy that she didn't know by name, but knew as a Hufflepuff fifth year. He was quite attractive with sandy blond hair and a muscular, athletic build.  
"No, I can get it for you, Lily," said Jason instantly, jumping in front of the Hufflepuff.  
"I've got a great idea, why don't you both go get her a drink while I dance with her," said Rich Burgess, a Ravenclaw sixth year who wasn't quite as attractive as either of the other boys, but whom she knew was very smart.  
"Oh, actually, I was talking to Lily first, so I think I should get the first dance," said James quickly.  
"Why don't we let Lily decide who she wants to dance with first," said the sandy-haired Hufflepuff.  
"You know what, boys? I'm really in the mood to play a game first," purred Lily, copying what she had seen from a muggle chick-flick that she had seen with her mum. She hoped that it would have the same effect in real life, and she beamed when the boys all crowded closer around her.  
"What kind of a game?" asked a third-year Gryffindor.  
"I was thinking we could play spin the bottle," said Lily, smiling at her audience.  
"That's a great idea, Lily," said Rick enthusiastically.  
"Yeah, but I think we need some more people," said Lily.  
"Why?" asked several of the boys at once.  
"Well, for one thing, I'm the only girl," said Lily, laughing. The other reason she didn't repeat out loud. She knew there was one person who couldn't resist a game of Spin the Bottle.  
"I wouldn't mind," said one of the boys toward the back of the group. Lily couldn't really see him very well, as the crowd had grown larger and larger.  
"Alright, I'll get some more people for you, Lily," said the Hufflepuff, walking quickly through the crowds.  
"We also need a bottle," said Lily.  
"I'll get it!" said Rick excitedly.  
"While you're at it, why don't you also grab us a full bottle of firewhisky? I'm really thirsty," purred Lily. She almost let a look of horror pass over her face as she realized what she had said. Maybe she was carrying this a little too far. Maybe she should just go back to her room, she thought. But when she caught sight of messy black hair over the crowd she realized that she was going to do this all the way. She was going to show two people that she did know how to have fun.  
Jason pushed several boys out of the way so that he could sit next to Lily on the floor. Lily sat very carefully, all too aware of just how short her dress was. Jason's arm brushed Lily's and she smiled up at him, watching with amusement as he gulped.  
Rick arrived back with the firewhisky and an empty bottle of butterbeer not to long after, pushing several guys out of the way so that he was sitting on the other side of Lily.  
"I can conjure you a glass if you'd like," said Rick huskily in her ear.  
"That's alright, Rick. I don't think I'll need one," said Lily, grabbing the bottle, unscrewing the top, and taking a big gulp from it. As soon as the liquid reached her throat it began burning and Lily swallowed it quickly, trying not to spit it all out.  
"Whoa, Lily, I never knew you were such a partier," said Jason, putting his arm around her shoulder.  
"I'm just full of surprises," she said, taking another big gulp before handing the bottle to Jason, who took a tiny sip, grimaced, and then passed the bottle to the boy on his left.  
"I can see that," said Rick, putting his hand over her right hand.  
"OY! Spin the Bottle over by the couches," cried the Hufflepuff loudly over the music.  
"Oooh, I'm coming. Don't you dare start without me," yelled the voice of a boy that Lily recognized all too well. She felt a thrill of excitement at the same time that a warning went off inside her head. She ignored the warning, the image of Potter and Carrie looking shocked and hurt more and more compelling as she thought about it.  
Lily watched the boy with dark hair walk towards the circle, fighting his way into a spot directly across from Lily. She saw him glance around the circle, frowning as he saw more and more guys. When his gaze landed on Lily, he froze, a shocked expression on his face.  
"Hello, Black. I'm glad you joined us," purred Lily across the circle.  
"Um, Evans, what are you doing?" asked Sirius gruffly, scanning the crowd around him. Lily had a feeling he was looking for James and she rolled her eyes.  
"Oh, come on Black, I'm waiting for my turn to spin the bottle just like you," said Lily, smiling at him.  
"Does Prongs know," began Sirius.  
"Does he know what, Black? Since when does he have anything to say about what I do?" asked Lily irritably. Noticing the odd stares she was getting from several of the people in the circle, she smiled at them, "now where did that bottle of firewhisky get to?"  
"Here, Lily," said Rick, who grabbed it out of a second year Hufflepuff's hands.  
"Oh, thank you Rick," said Lily, turning her whole gaze on his for a moment and watching his cheeks redden before she swigged a gulp of the liquid, now quite enjoying the burning sensation moving down her throat.  
"Evans, maybe you should cool it with the firewhisky," said Sirius warningly.  
"Why don't you just go ahead and spin the bottle, Black," said Lily smiling at him and rolling the bottle to him.  
"Evans, I think you should," began Sirius.  
"Black, please. Spin the bottle," said Lily, irritated. Sirius Black had never been, well, serious, a day in his life and now he was trying to tell her to behave. The thought was maddening.  
"Alright," said Sirius, looking around and noticing that several girls had joined the circle. Several of them were shooting glares at Lily as the noticed the boys that were drooling all over her.  
Lily flicked her wand slightly on her lap and the bottle came to a stop right in front of her. Several of the people in the crowd gasped. Sirius himself looked very uncomfortable. His Adam's apple was bobbing up and down on his throat and his eyes were wide with shock.  
"Alright, Black. Come on and give me a kiss," said Lily, standing up and rolling her eyes.  
"Evans, I don't know," said Sirius, still frozen where he was sitting across from her.  
"What's wrong, Sirius? You don't want to kiss me?" asked Lily, pouting. She was beginning to feel very odd, like everything was swimming around her.  
"I'll kiss you for him," said Jason quickly.  
"But that's not how the game is played!" whined Lily.  
"Evans, James would kill me," said Sirius.

"You don't have to make any excuses, Black. You think I'm ugly. You don't like me. You don't want to kiss me," accused Lily, her frown deepening.  
"Evans, of course I don't think you're ugly. You actually look really hot in that dress. And I like you, especially when you get all fired up about something. And I do want to kiss you, but James is," Sirius said.  
Before Sirius could finish, Lily walked across the circle and stood before him and reached down to take his hand.  
"Evans, really, go sit down," said Sirius.  
"Guys, doesn't he have to kiss me?" asked Lily, appealing to the crowd.  
"Yes!" shouted the girls. The boys all started shaking their heads.  
"And you know the rules of the game. If you don't kiss me, than you will have to kiss Filch," said Lily triumphantly.  
"Yech," said Sirius.  
"Exactly, Black. So which is it going to be?" she asked.  
Sirius sighed and rose up next to her, but stayed frozen where he was, too far away to kiss her.  
"Black, you have to kiss me," Lily reminded him.  
"Alright, but if this gets back to James," said Sirius before he closed the distance between them. He stared down into Lily's emerald green eyes and put his arms around her waist, drawing her still closer to him. Slowly he lowered his face towards hers and their lips touched. Lily could feel that Sirius was about to back away, but she parted her lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes to be able to reach. Lily felt the moment that Sirius lost it. He gripped her tighter and moved his mouth furiously against hers.  
"Sirius, where did you put that bottle of firewhisky?" came a very familiar voice. Lily opened her eyes, but couldn't see James yet as there was still a large crowd around them.  
"Already kissing a girl, I see," said James, chuckling as he pushed through the crowd.  
Sirius froze as he finally heard James's voice. He pulled away from Lily quickly and turned to his best friend with a stricken look on his face. Lily watched as James quickly glanced at her and looked away and then widened his eyes and turned back to her.  
"Hey, Prongs, um, we were just playing," began Sirius.  
"What the hell are you doing Padfoot!" roared James, charging towards him.  
"Prongs, the bottle landed on her. I would have had to kiss Filch if I didn't," said Sirius in a panicked voice, backing up.  
"I don't give a hippogriff's arse, Black! You don't kiss your best friend's girl!" roared James.  
"Excuse me, Potter, but since when am I your girl," said Lily angrily.  
"Lily, what are you doing?" asked James, staring at her in disbelief as he took in her very short dress, her high heels, and the bottle of firewhisky that she had picked up from the floor.  
"What, I'm having fun. Isn't that what you wanted me to do?" asked Lily, going to take another swig of the firewhisky. James snatched the bottle out of her hands before she could raise it to her lips.  
"I never wanted you to get plastered and make a fool out of yourself," thundered James.  
"Jason and Rick don't think I'm making a fool out of myself, do you?" asked Lily, glancing at the two boys behind her.  
"Of course not, Lily," they both said, taking a step toward her. When they caught the murderous look on James's face they didn't move any closer.  
"Sirius didn't think I was making a fool of myself either, when he kissed me," said Lily, smirking at James.  
"You what?" shouted Carrie, who had wandered over to see what was going on in the huge crowd. She wrenched Lily's arm painfully, causing Lily to stumble.  
"Oh, it's too bad you missed it, Carrie. I kissed Sirius," said Lily, grinning.  
"What is wrong with you Lily?" asked Carrie angrily.  
"Oh, are you upset, Carrie? And why would that be? Hmm, is it because you are in love with Sirius and can't stand to see anyone else with him?" asked Lily, smirking at her.  
"I think the better question is, why did you plan this whole thing? Are you trying to get back at me for kissing James?" asked Carrie.  
"You WHAT!" screamed Lily and Sirius at the same time, both looking livid.  
"Oh, that's right. You had already stalked off to pout in your room, so you didn't see," sneered Carrie, ignoring Black who had strode towards her angrily.  
"You kissed her?" asked Lily, looking at James with her mouth tensed and her eyes becoming very shiny and wet-looking.  
"Don't give me that look, Lily. You kissed Sirius," said James angrily.  
"You were right, Potter. I have no idea why I haven't gone to one of your parties before. Be sure to tell me when you have the next one," said Lily, her voice shaking and tears pouring down her face. She fled towards her room, but as she did, Jason put his arm out to catch her.  
"Hey, Lily, you forgot about my dance. How about we," said Jason.  
"Jason, get your hands off of her before I hex them off permanently," growled James.  
Jason backed away, and Lily didn't even bother to look back as she strode to her room and slammed the door behind her.  
"Well, once again, Prongs, a great party. A true Marauder event. Merlin, I'm tired, got to go," called Sirius running off before James could turn on him again.  
"Alright you lot, get out of here, all of you!" bellowed James, silencing the music with his wand. Loud protests were shouted throughout the room, but when James made the doors bang open, people began to leave. Once everyone was gone, James sank onto the couch  
"Yeah, great party. I'm so glad we had it," said James, burrying his head in his hands.

* * *

AN: I hope you liked the chapter. I wasn't completely sure about it. I'm still not. Oh well, I guess some things you just go with. Oh, quick question: how do you like the pacing? Is it going too slowly?

Well, happy fanficing. and check back next Wednesday for the next chapter! And, as always, feel free to review if you'd like.

Love,

Lilttlemisskrissy


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Well, I'm back again with a special thanks to all who reviewed! You guys are great! I would bake you all a cake if I could! This chapter isn't terribly exciting, but it sets up for the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything realated to Harry Potter and his world.

* * *

Lily groaned as the sound of footsteps reached her ears. It was mid-morning and she was hiding out in the back of the library, a thick volume on Potions spread out underneath her head. She had been trying to get started on a Potions essay that was due on Thursday, but her eyes watered every time she tried to focus on the page. She shut her eyes tighter now, trying to block out every minute particle of light. She had a terrible headache that was only exacerbated by the smell of musty books and the image of James's hurt face that wouldn't leave her mind.

"Hiding out, Evans?" asked a male voice from behind her. Stifling a groan she turned around to see the one person she never thought she would see in the library.

"Go away Black," said Lily, turning back to lay her head on the heavy Potions volume and shut her eyes.

"Got a wicked hangover, huh?" asked Sirius, pulling out a chair beside her very noisily.

"You could say that," she said miserably.

"Well, you're in luck, because I just happen to know the cure," said Sirius, propping his feet up on the desk beside Lily and leaning back so his chair wobbled on two legs.

"You do?" asked Lily, looking up at him expectantly, wincing as her loud voice echoed through the library.

"Of course I do. I'm a Marauder, aren't I?" He grinned arrogantly down at Lily and she resisted the urge to glare at him.

"Right, I should have known," said Lily, squinting her eyes as even the low lighting in the library was causing her headache to pulse in her temples.

"The thing is, I don't know if I should offer to help you," said Sirius.

"Yeah, I don't know if you should either," said Lily sadly. She thought about what she had done the night before and she shuddered. Why had she ever thought it was a good idea?

"Evans, why did you do all that last night? I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't mind being kissed, but I don't really like it when my best mate is furious with me for kissing the girl he likes," said Sirius, pulling his legs off of the desk, the other chair legs making a muffled thump as they hit the thick carpet.

"I really don't want to talk about it, Black," said Lily quietly.

"No, Evans. You don't get to say that. You don't get to just push everything away and pretend it didn't happen," said Sirius irritably. Lily looked up in shock to see that his eyes were flashing with anger and his mouth was clenched in a tight scowl. She was pretty sure that she hadn't ever seen Sirius angry before. He was usually joking around and laughing.

"I'm really sorry, Black," said Lily sincerely, for the first time realizing that she hadn't just affected herself and James. She felt awful that she hadn't even thought about what her actions would do to Sirius.

"Yeah, well, you should be. You just cost me the greatest friendship I've ever had. I think that means you owe me an explanation," said Sirius, staring unblinkingly at Lily.

"I'm sure James will forgive you," said Lily.

"Evans," said Sirius in a warning tone.

"Come on, Black. I hardly know you. It's not like I'm just going to spill my guts to you," said Lily tightly.

"If you could kiss me last night when you barely knew me, than you can tell me why you did," said Sirius gruffly.

Lily sat in silence for a few minutes, staring down at the dusty Potions volume, but not really seeing it. She knew she did owe Sirius an explanation, but she wasn't really ready to give it to him or herself for that matter. She knew why she had acted so irrationally last night. She could no longer deny the fact that she liked James. A lot. But that didn't mean that she was willing to tell his best mate! After a few minutes of looking at Sirius's steely face, though, she realized that he wouldn't leave without an explanation. So she decided to give him a little bit of the truth.

"Alright, Sirius. I was just so angry that James had the party even after I told him not to have it! Then he had it in our common room, which just shows that he has absolutely no respect for me. And then everyone was telling me that I was a boring rule-follower," said Lily.

"That's it?" asked Sirius incredulously after a pause.

"Yeah," said Lily, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Evans, that's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard," said Sirius bitterly.

"Are you going to cure my hangover now or not?" asked Lily irritably.

"I don't think you're telling me everything, Evans. You're way too smart to throw away a good friendship over something so stupid," said Sirius, staring intently at her.

"I don't know what," began Lily.

"Do you want your hangover cured? Because I haven't got anything to do today, now that James is mad at me. I could spend the rest of the day following you around with a gong and my lit wand shining in your eyes," threatened Sirius.

"Black," grumbled Lily angrily.

"Evans," said Sirius, staring stubbornly at Lily.

"Fine, Black. But if I tell you what really happened, you cannot tell anyone!" said Lily icily.

"Who am I going to tell? It's not like I've got a best mate anymore," grumbled Sirius.

"That's not a promise, Black," said Lily.

"Fine. I won't tell anyone your dirty little secret," said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

"Alright. Well, hmmm. This is going to be hard to say. I, um, kind of like James," said Lily quietly, watching Sirius expectantly. She knew he was going to freak out when her announcement finally got through his thick skull.

"And?" said Sirius after a pause.

"Well, I like him! I like James bloody Potter! After years of being tortured by his existence, I can't stop thinking about him! I'm going crazy, Black!" said Lily. Once the words were out of her mouth, she regretted how much she had revealed. She could see the smirk forming on Sirius's face.

"It's about time you finally realized what everyone's known all along, but I don't really understand. You wore a sexy dress, got drunk, and kissed me because you like James?" asked Sirius. He was looking at Lily like she was a complete moron, which Lily knew she deserved.

"Well, that's part of it. The other part is that Carrie was hanging all over him! And he wasn't exactly pushing her away," said Lily angrily, remembering Carrie pushing her way in between them and running her hands all over his arm.

"You're a complete nutter, do you know that Lily? James _loves_ you!" said Sirius, shaking his head at her.

"Oh, come on, Black! James does _not_ love me," said Lily.

"Are you kidding me, Evans? James has been in love with you since first year. And, now that you realize that you're in love with him, too, all I have to do is get you two together and James won't be mad at me anymore!" said Sirius triumphantly.

"Wait a minute, Black. I am _not_ in love with James. And he is _not _in love with me," said Lily.

"Well, probably not right now after that stunt you pulled. It might take a bit of work, but I know he'll forgive you. Maybe you could shoot off fireworks that spell out "I love you James Potter, will you go out with me?" at dinner. Oh, and you can put something about the whole thing being my idea in there too," said Sirius.

"No, Black," said Lily.

"What? But Lily, don't you want James to forgive you?" asked Sirius.

"Yes, Black. I wish I could. But I really don't think that's possible. And anyway, all of this just made me realize that James and I really aren't good for each other. He's so laidback and spontaneous, and I'm just not like that. We drive each other crazy. Maybe it's just better if we avoid each other," said Lily glumly.

"Oh, come on Evans. How am I supposed to fix things with James, then?" asked Sirius.

"I don't know, Black. I'm really sorry. I've got to go," she said, gathering up her books and striding towards the door.

"Evans, what about your hangover?" asked Sirius.

"I don't really care anymore, Black," said Lily, shoving out of the library and walking quickly down the hallway.

* * *

"Trying to be the first one-man Quidditch team?" asked Sirius from the middle of the Quidditch pitch. James was zooming overhead with a beater's bat, alternately smacking the bludgers and throwing the Quaffle with all his might across the field to the goal posts.

"Get lost Black," growled James, hitting the bludger with such force that it went sailing into the forbidden forest.

"Prongs, mate, I'm really sorry about last night. You have to know that I don't even like Evans. I mean, sure, she's hot in an up-tight way, and really funny when she's mad," said Sirius. He trailed off when the other bludger came streaking by him, inches from his head. The bludger crashed into the ground and lodged itself, struggling mightily to get free.

"You could have killed me, Prongs!" Sirius said, looking at James in horror.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should have thought about that before you kissed my girl," said James angrily.

"Oh, come on Prongs! It was a bloody stupid Spin the Bottle thing! I never would have in any other situation. And besides, she's not really your girl. You guys aren't actually dating, so you really don't have a right to yell at me," said Sirius. The Quaffle came sailing by Sirius's head on the other side, narrowly missing. "Watch it, would you!"

"Get out of here, Black, before the bludgers come back. I won't miss next time," said James.

"Prongs, I think you're completely overreacting here. I mean, if you must know, kissing Lily wasn't all that great. I mean, it was nice, but nothing super special. She did kind of taste like strawberries. Weird, huh? But," said Sirius. He was interrupted, however, when James launched himself at Sirius from his broom. Sirius collided painfully with the ground, and a second later James's fist collided painfully with his nose.

"Stay away from Evans. And stay away from me," said James.

"James, I'm your best mate. Don't let some stupid girl get in between us," said Sirius.

"You _were_ my best mate, Black," said James, hopping back onto his broom and zooming out of the Quidditch pitch, leaving a bruised and defeated Sirius to trudge back to the castle alone.

* * *

"Lily?" called a familiar voice quietly from behind her as she was creeping towards the kitchens for lunch. Lily felt a mixture of hurt and anger as she gritted her teeth and turned around to look at Hannah, who was shifting from foot to foot and wringing her hands.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lily defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I just wanted to see if you're ok, after what happened last night," said Hannah, looking up sadly into Lily's eyes. Seeing the pity that Hannah had for her clearly displayed in her eyes made Lily fill with anger.

"Why do you care? Let me guess, you're coming to get all the juicy details about how awful I feel so you can run back and tell Carrie that she won," said Lily bitterly.

"I just don't get it, Lily. What happened to you? Why are you acting like this?" asked Hannah. Lily could see that her eyes were shining. In the light spilling in through the nearby window "I used to be one of your best friends, and now you think I'm out to get you?"

"I just don't know what to believe anymore, Hannah. After Carrie went psycho and started that fight," Lily began, her tone slowly becoming more and more irate.

"Lily, I didn't find you to talk about Carrie," Hannah interrupted.

"Then what do you want?" Lily snapped.

"I wanted to see if you're ok. Last night, Lily, that wasn't you at all. I'm worried about you," said Hannah.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine," said Lily, holding in the tears that she felt like sobbing out. In the past, Lily had always gone to Hannah with her problems. It was hard for Lily to deal with everything that was going wrong now without Hannah's comforting voice telling her everything would be ok.

"Lily, I can always tell when you're lying," said Hannah, smiling slightly at Lily.

"Yeah, it's always been extremely annoying," said Lily, a small smile creeping up on her face.

"So, I'm not going to force you to say anything. I just want you to know that I'm here if you need to talk," said Hannah, "See you around, Lily." She turned and began to walk away slowly. Lily stood frozen until Hannah had almost disappeared from sight around a corner of the corridor.

"Wait, Hannah," said Lily, feeling her resolve to stay rigid and unfeeling crumbling. She collapsed on the floor, tears leaking rapidly down her cheeks.

"Oh, Lily," said Hannah, walking quickly back and collapsing beside her friend, throwing her arms around Lily's heaving shoulders.

"I don't know what to do, Hannah. I messed everything up completely," said Lily, sobbing into Hannah's shoulders.

"It's ok, Lily, things will work out," said Hannah, rubbing Lily's back in circles.

"No they won't Hannah. James will never forgive me for what I did," said Lily miserably, choking with sobs.

"You're worried about Potter? Why?" asked Hannah in shock, pulling Lily back so that she could have a better look at her expression.

"I like him, Hannah. After years of hating his existence and wanting to hex him every time I saw his face, I can't stop thinking about him! He's kind, and brave, and loyal, and smart, and handsome, and he hates my guts now!" said Lily, sinking back into Hannah's shoulder, fresh sobs escaping her lips.

"Oh, Lily, then why did you kiss Sirius? What was that all about last night?" asked Hannah sympathetically.

"I told him not to have the party last night, Hannah, and he just went ahead and had it anyway, right in our common room! It was like he was rubbing my nose in the fact that he didn't care what I had to say! And to top it all off, Carrie rushed over and was hanging all over him! I wanted to get revenge. Only now the guy I really like will never forgive me," wailed Lily.

"I don't think I have to tell you that was an awful plan. But you don't know that James is going to stay mad forever, Lily. We'll think of something to win him back," said Hannah quietly.

"Merlin, Hannah. Why are you being nice to me now? I was so mean to you!" said Lily, remembering their last conversation with shame.

"Because, Lily, you're a great friend, most of the time. Besides, I knew we wouldn't stop being friends for long. I knew you'd be back," said Hannah, smiling at Lily and sweeping her bangs out of her eyes.

"Thanks, Hannah, but I think there are several people who would disagree with you. Top on the list would be Carrie and James," said Lily, gasping for breath as fresh tears rolled down her face.

"Well, I can't say I really blame them for being mad at you, Lily. You were definitely at your worst. But you'll get past this, and I'll help you," said Hannah.

"Really? Even after I was so awful to you?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, Lily. I've really missed you," said Hannah.

"I've missed you, too," said Lily, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Alright, well, I know the first thing that we need to do," said Hannah, standing up and pulling Lily to her feet.

"What's the first step, Captain?" asked Lily, smiling weakly at her.

"First we go to the kitchens and pig out. Chocolate is like a universal cure for a bad day and it always helps me come up with my best ideas," said Hannah.

"Thanks, Hannah," said Lily gratefully, hugging Hannah tightly.

* * *

"Moony," Sirius called eagerly as he entered his dormitory and flopped onto his bed.

"Hey, Pads," said Remus distractedly. He was sitting on his bed, a thick book resting on his lap.

"Moony, would you put the book down for a second, we've got a problem here," said Sirius frantically.

"_You're_ the one who has the problem, Padfoot. _I'm_ not the one who kissed Evans last night," said Moony, smirking at Sirius.

"We don't have time for teasing right now, Moony. We've got to come up with a plan to get James and Evans together," announced Sirius.

"Excuse me? Do you want to try something a little easier first, say, getting all of the grease out of Snape's hair," said Remus, laughing heartily.

"So you don't think it's possible?" asked Sirius, trying to keep a straight face.

"No, Black. And I really don't think trying will help you any with Prongs. If anything, when Evans shoots him down again, he'll just be even angrier with you," said Moony.

"But what if I told you that I know for a fact that Evans _won't_ turn him down?" asked Sirius.

"And how could you possibly know that?" asked Remus.

"I was talking to Evans earlier this morning, and she said that she freaked out last night because she likes our Prongs!" said Sirius.

"Are you daft?" asked Remus, dropping his book on the floor.

"What is your problem, Moony?" Sirius asked. He had jumped at Moony's sharp tone.

"You went to find Evans this morning? And you had a whole conversation with her, alone, right after you were caught kissing her? Pads, you're not starting to have feelings for her, are you?" asked Moony, studying him closely.

"Merlin, no, Moony! If I did, would I be trying to get her together with James?" said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

"I guess not. But I still don't think that getting them together will work. Evans might like him, but I don't think he really likes her that much right now. And anyway, he's not going to listen to anything you have to say," said Moony.

"And that's why I'm coming to _you_, Moony. Because you're smart, and James isn't mad at you right now," said Sirius, explaining it to Moony like he was a little kid.

"Pads, it's not going to work. Why don't you just try apologizing?" asked Moony, grabbing his book off of the floor and thumbing through it.

"I already tried that, Moony, and do you know what he did? He smacked a bludger at my _face_!"said Sirius.

"Well, give him some time to cool down and apologize again," said Remus, still flipping through the pages of his book, looking for where he had left off.

"No, Moony," said Sirius, grabbing the book out of Moony's hands and throwing it across the room. "You are going to help me," declared Sirius.

"You might not want to throw someone's belongings across the room when you're trying to persuade them to do something," said Moony, scowling at Sirius.

"I'm really sorry, Moony. It won't happen again. Now, will you help me?" asked Sirius, doing his best to appear innocent. Moony broke out in laughter at the expression on Sirius's face, clutching his sides as they began to ache.

"Fine, Pads. But please don't pretend to look innocent again. I thought I was going to laugh until I died," said Moony, struggling to keep himself from laughing.

"When you're finished looking like an idiot, I can tell you the plan," said Sirius, rolling his eyes at his friend.

* * *

"So that prank on the Marauders was all you?" asked Hannah, wide-eyed as she plunged her spoon into her chocolate sundae. The two girls were sitting on the large island table in the middle of the kitchen, eating huge ice cream sundaes.

"Yeah," said Lily, licking the hot fudge off of her spoon. They were recapping all the important things that had happened in the past week.

"Do you remember the prank we pulled on Carrie in second year?" asked Hannah, a giggling smile appearing on her face as she swung her dangling legs back and forth.

"How could I forget? She screamed about it for _months_! She also brings it up every April 1st," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"I better not wake up to find anything that looks like Black in my bed," said Hannah in an impersonation of Carrie's voice when she whines.

"Even after we explained that it was just a disillusioned pillow she threw it in the trash. She said she couldn't own anything that looked like Black for even a minute," said Lily. Both of them laughed, beaming widely at each other.

"You would have said the same thing about Potter in those days," said Hannah, looking up in horror at Lily after the words were already out.

"Yeah, I guess I would have. If I had any sense at all, I would still be repulsed by him," said Lily quietly.

"I'm just glad that I've always been the sane one of our group," said Hannah quickly.

"You, sane? Riiight," said Lily, rolling her eyes and laughing.

"Hey, I've never insisted that I hate someone that I secretly love," said Hannah indignantly. "I think that makes me a little bit saner than you and Carrie."

"Hannah, I DO NOT love Potter!" Lily said firmly, putting her hands on her hips.

"See, you just proved my point," said Hannah, smiling mischievously at Lily.

"I told you that I _like_ Potter, I never said that I love him," insisted Lily.

"You didn't have to say it. I've known all along that you do," said Hannah.

"Really? Then why were you so surprised when I told you that I like him earlier?" asked Lily, smiling triumphantly at Hannah.

"Because I never thought you'd admit it to yourself," said Hannah.

"It really wouldn't matter if I did love him, Hannah. James is never going to talk to me again," said Lily sadly again, sinking onto the countertop.

"I told you, Lily. We've just got to think of a way for you to win him back," said Hannah.

"What, should I start asking him out every day like he used to do to me?" asked Lily, rolling her eyes.

"That's not a terrible idea," said Hannah.

"That was supposed to be a joke, Hannah," said Lily flatly.

"I know it was, Lily. But what you have to do is show James that you really care about him. You have to make a big gesture, put everything on the line. You have to," said Hannah.

"Speak in as many clichés as I possibly can?" asked Lily, smiling impishly.

"Merlin, Lily. I forgot how annoying you are," said Hannah, rolling her eyes.

"And I forgot how much you love chocolate ice cream all over your robes," said Lily, grinning before she started launching spoonfuls of ice cream at her best friend.

Pretty soon there were splatters of ice cream all over the walls, and Hannah and Lily were alternately ducking behind the island and lobbing ice cream at the other. When they ran out of ice cream, they threw anything they could get their hands on. They were so caught up in their food war that they didn't notice James walk in until he yelled, "hey!" indignantly as a cookie bounced off of his forehead.

"Oh, hi Potter," said Hannah, throwing a panicked look at the space where Lily had just ducked back behind the island.

"Hey Matthews, who are you having a food war with?" asked James, grabbing a cookie off the countertop and nibbling on it.

"Me," said Lily, standing up and looking hesitantly at James.

"Oh," said James, throwing the half-eaten cookie down and turning to retreat.

"Wait, James," said Lily, jumping in front of him to block his path to the door.

"Evans, get out of my way," said James impatiently.

"James, I feel awful about what I did last night," Lily began.

"I don't care how you feel, Evans," said James emotionlessly.

"What I did was really wrong. I know that, James. And I'm so, so sorry. I just, I really liked our friendship. Can't we just go back to how things were?" asked Lily, her voice full of emotion and her eyes brimming with tears as she pleaded.

"No, Evans," said James tonelessly.

"James, please, just talk to me," said Lily.

"Bye, Evans," said James, stepping around her and leaving the kitchens. The door swung back and forth on its hinges as Lily sunk to the floor again, its image blurring more and more each time it swung as her eyes filled with tears.

* * *

"Matthews," called Remus, pushing off of the wall outside of the portrait entrance to the Gryffindor common room a few hours later. Hannah had just left Lily's room after trying to console her. Lily had finally calmed down a bit and had said that she needed to get some sleep, so Hannah had left, promising to return in the morning so they could have breakfast together. Hannah was just so glad that she and Lily had fallen back into their friendship so comfortably. It was as if they hadn't spent any time being mad at each other.

"Matthews!" said Remus loudly, putting his hand on her shoulder. Hannah jumped and placed gripped the wand in her pocket before she realized it was Lupin. Her cheeks turned red as she gazed up at him.

"Lupin, you scared me," Hannah gasped, smiling up at him despite her scolding.

"I'm sorry, Matthews. I called your name several times, but you didn't hear me," said Remus apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind. What's going on?" asked Hannah sweetly. She had always liked Lupin, although she didn't know him extremely well. He was kind, smart, and handsome with his light brown hair, muddy brown eyes, and charming smile.

"Are you busy right now?" asked Remus, smiling at her.

"No," said Hannah with a shy smile on her face, "why?"

"Can we talk?" asked Remus nervously as he ran his hand through his slightly rumpled hair.

"Sure, Lupin," said Hannah. She was slightly puzzled by his coming to her for anything. Of course they had talked a few times, but they could hardly be considered friends.

"Could we go somewhere a little more private?" asked Remus, looking around the corridor at the Gryffindors who were entering and exiting the common room.

"I guess," said Hannah cautiously, her curiosity peaked.

"Have you ever heard of the Room of Requirement?" asked Remus, a grin on his face.

"The room of what?" asked Hannah.

"Come on, I'll show you," said Remus, walking off towards the seventh floor corridor, Hannah following in his wake.

"What are you doing?" asked Hannah curiously, as she watched Remus pace back and forth in front of a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"Opening the room," said Remus cryptically.

"Sure, that makes sense," said Hannah, wondering slightly if Remus had a few knuts loose in his head. She took it all back when a door appeared in the wall opposite from the tapestry.

"After you," said Remus, opening the door for her.

"Thank you," said Hannah, smiling at him before she walked into the room. It was a small room with a comfy-looking couch set before a wide fireplace and three walls entirely covered with books. Hannah stared in amazement at the room for a moment before she walked towards the bookshelves and began running her finger over the spines.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" asked Remus, closing the door and sitting on the couch.

"Yeah," agreed Hannah, plopping on the couch next to Remus and sinking into the plushy fabric.

"I found this room in my third year when I couldn't take James and Sirius's constant games of wizard's chess while I was trying to study," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"It's too bad there's nothing to put your feet up on, though," said Hannah. Just after she said it, though, a coffee table appeared right in front of her. She looked at Remus in surprise.

"The room adjusts to whatever you want. In fact, when you pace outside in the hallway, you just think of whatever you want in the room and it'll appear," said Remus. "James has made this into a huge room with a springy floor so he can practice quidditch, Peter has used this room as a place to hide from Slytherins, and I actually have never asked what Sirius uses this room for, and I really don't think I want to know."

"And this is what you think of when you want to get away," asked Hannah, taking in the room once again, seeing what the room revealed about him.

"Um, yeah," said Remus, the rims of his ears turning red.

"I like it," said Hannah quietly. "It's exactly the room I would pick."

"Thanks," said Remus, beaming at her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Hannah suddenly after a bit of a pause. She hadn't realized right away that she was staring at him.

"What? Oh, um, I need your help, Matthews," Remus said slowly.

"Alright," said Hannah, trying to look at Remus closely to read his expression.

"This might seem really crazy, and believe me, it is _not_ my idea, but I'm trying to get James and Evans together," said Remus.

"You are?" asked Hannah in a confused tone. Of course it all made sense now that Remus would talk to her about Lily. She felt slightly disappointed, but she pushed her feelings aside.

"It's all Sirius' plan, and somehow, once again, I got dragged into it. Sirius thinks that James will forgive him if he gets them together," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"That's actually a pretty smart plan," said Hannah thoughtfully.

"Well, it would be if it would work, which is why I came to you. I don't want to try to get them together if it doesn't have a chance of working. So, I know things between you and Lily aren't going great, but do you think she'd say yes to James?" asked Remus, staring intently at her.

"If you had asked me a few hours ago, I would have said no way. She's way too stubborn for her own good. But now I know for a fact now that she will," said Hannah.

"What changed in the past few hours?" asked Remus.

"I got my best friend back," said Hannah, smiling happily.

"That's great, Hannah," said Remus. Hannah's heartbeat quickened as she stared at his beaming face.

"Yeah, and she's finally admitted that she likes James, so I don't think she'd be the problem. James, on the other hand," said Hannah, trailing off.

"Yeah, I'm not too sure how he'll react to us trying to set them up. I've never seen him so angry before. But he loves her. I know he does. That's got to count for something, right?" asked Remus.

"As long as we come up with a good plan, I think it will all work out," said Hannah.

"So you'll help me?" asked Remus in surprise.

"Of course, Lupin," said Hannah, smiling up at him.

"Brilliant," said Lupin, beaming down at her.

* * *

AN: Well, I hope you all liked it and will come back next Wednesday for the next post! I promise that the next post will be a lot more exciting.

As always, feel free to review on your way out!

Have a good night, and happy fanficing!

Love,

Littlemisskrissy


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Well, I'm back! And if I am really quick on this note and the end note, then I will submit it before Wednesday is over! That way, I won't have lied to you! Thanks to barefoottoes for your review! You really made me smile :) So, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

"Sucks, doesn't it?" asked a voice from above Lily as she sat at breakfast the next morning.

"What does?" asked Lily. She looked up and scowled as she saw Sirius standing across the table from her. His black hair was messy and his robe was wrinkled, but he had that ever-present smirk plastered on his face. It was just what she needed, another reminder of the huge mistake that she had made first thing in the morning.

"Being shut out," said Sirius, gazing over at James, who was sitting halfway down the table with Remus and Peter. Lily looked at James, who was pushing eggs around on his plate and looking blankly at Remus. Lily sighed and went back to poking her own eggs. Sirius lowered himself to sit across from her.

"Black, do you think it's really a good idea to sit with me?" asked Lily, raising her eyebrows at him and darting a glace back at James, who still wasn't looking her way.

"No," he said, sitting down anyway and helping himself to several pieces of toast.

"So why are you?" she asked after a moment of silence as he buttered and spread marmalade over his toast.

"I'm sure it's because you're always so pleasant to be around," said Sirius, rolling his eyes and biting into a piece of the toast.

"You always bring out the best in me. Maybe it's your complete lack of charm," said Lily sarcastically.

"I'll have you know I got decent marks in charms, thank you very much," he said, grinning at her over his toast. Lily was shocked to see that his short stack of toast had dwindled down to the one he was holding. She had no idea how he had eaten all the other pieces so quickly.

"Lame, Black," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just trying to be serious," said Sirius, grinning broadly.

Lily shot him an annoyed look but he just laughed.

"So what are you really doing here, Black?" asked Lily.

"Well, we're both kind of outcasts right now, Evans, aren't we? Outcasts should stick together," he said, smiling up at her.

"Sorry, Black, but I'm not actually an outcast. I'm just waiting for Hannah," said Lily, smirking at him.

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm not welcome here?" asked Sirius.

"Wow, how perceptive of you!" said Lily, smiling at him.

"Come on, Evans, this is _your_ fault, the least you could do is try to be nice," said Sirius, frowning at her. "Besides, I actually came over here to help you."

"Help me?" asked Lily, choosing to ignore his other statements.

"Yeah, Evans. I know a guaranteed way to get James to forgive you," said Sirius, smirking at her as he piled eggs and bacon onto his plate.

"Oh, really?" asked Lily stoically. In her head, though, the possibility of winning James back over was tempting.

"Sure! All you have to do is put yourself in danger. James never can resist the urge to be the hero when someone's in trouble. When he sees you in peril, then he'll realize he's still pathetically in love with you," said Sirius. "You don't have to tell me, I know I'm brilliant." Lily snorted and almost sprayed the table with pumpkin juice.

"What a great idea, Black. How do you think I should endanger myself? Should I jump into the lake and make sure I smack my head on a rock, or should I just go to the Shrieking Shack late at night?" asked Lily.

"Psh! That place isn't even haunted," said Sirius around a large mouthful of eggs.

"And how would you know that?" asked Lily pointedly.

"Oh, look, Matthews showed up after all. So you weren't lying about meeting her to get rid of me," said Sirius, gesturing behind Lily with his fork.

"Black," said Hannah curiously as she sat down next to Lily and stared questioningly at her.

"Lily and I were just discussing the best ways to win James back," said Sirius.

"Yeah, Black thinks I should put myself into great danger and _hope_ that James will come to my rescue. It would be slightly unfortunate if he decided he didn't care and I had to find my way out of the danger on my own," said Lily, glaring at Sirius.

"James wouldn't even let Snape be in danger without rushing to his aid. He's so bloody noble all the time. It's really irritating," said Sirius. "He would not leave the love of his life to die."

"I'm sure you're right, Black. But anything could go wrong if we intentionally put Lily in danger. James could get hurt himself! I don't think that's such a good idea," said Hannah thoughtfully.

"Alright. Then we just have to think of something better," said Sirius, looking as if he was straining to do just that.

"No, we don't. As much as I wish it wasn't true, James and I are done. We'd better just accept it and move on," said Lily.

"Are you a complete dolt?" asked Sirius.

"Excuse me?" asked Lily, offended.

"You can't give up, Lily. If there were ever two people who were meant to be together, it's you and James," said Sirius.

"I'm not exactly interested in becoming a star-crossed lover, Black. As Shakespeare proved centuries ago, a relationship between two very different people can only end in tragedy," said Lily.

"What are you talking about, Evans? Whose this Shake-whatever guy?" asked Sirius.

"Never mind, it's a muggle thing," said Lily.

"I think Black is right, Lily. You can't just give up," said Hannah, placing a hand on Lily's arm, trying to comfort her.

"I'm not even going to comment on how scary that sentence was, Hannah. Why can't I just give up?" asked Lily.

"Because, Lily, he makes you happy. I've seen you in classes with him for the past week. He makes you light up like no one else can," she said quietly.

"Aha! I've got it!" Sirius exclaimed. Several students at the Gryffindor table looked over at them. Lily caught James's eye and saw him frown as he looked from her to Sirius.

"Shh Black!" said Lily.

"Sorry," said Sirius sarcastically.

"Well, what is it?" asked Hannah enthusiastically.

"We make him jealous!" said Sirius.

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Lily.

"Well, you could pretend to go out with someone else. James would get jealous and he'd realize his feelings for you, and he'd beg you to be his," said Sirius, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

"You're just trying to get me to kiss you again," said Lily.

"Please, Evans! Kissing you was like kissing the Giant Squid!" said Sirius in horror.

"I have heard that rumor about you and the Giant Squid," said Lily, smiling at him.

"Actually, the Giant Squid was a better kisser," said Sirius.

"Well, anyway, I don't think making Potter jealous is the way to go. I mean, isn't that how all this started?" asked Hannah.

"I guess," said Sirius, falling silent in thought.

"We'll just have to keep thinking, Lily," said Hannah, patting her hand.

"Sure. You guys keep coming up with really impractical ideas and I'll just be realistic," said Lily.

"Lily!" Hannah screamed as she barged into her room later on that afternoon. She raced to the window and pulled back the drapes, letting a huge swath of sunlight fall over Lily's face where she sat on her bed, rolls of parchment and books surrounding her. Doing homework always calmed her and made her forget about her problems.

"Hannah?" Lily asked distractedly, rifling through one of her books for a bit on the Goblin Rebellions that she had read a few nights ago.

"Lily, I have great news!" said Hannah, beaming at her from the side of the bed and looking like she was about to start bouncing up and down.

"Merlin, Hannah. I forgot how annoying you can be when you're excited," said Lily grumpily, although she couldn't keep a smile off of her face. It felt so good to be friends with Hannah again, to see her hyper and excited face.

"Normally, I would get really mad at you for that, but we don't have time," said Hannah. "Now hurry up and put your books away! We have to get to work!"

"Um, I love your enthusiasm, Hannah. But would you mind pausing long enough to tell me what you're up to. I've got a lot of work myself," said Lily, running her finger down the page of the section on Goblins.

"That's not important now. I'll tell you over lunch! Now COME ON!" she shouted, picking up several of the books surrounding Lily and dropped them on the floor. She just rolled her eyes at the irritated look Lily sent her. As soon as the side of Lily's bed was free, she grabbed Lily's wrist and pulled her towards the edge. Lily stumbled out of bed, staring at Hannah curiously.

"Whoa, Hannah. I'd like to keep my arm, thanks," said Lily, as she rubbed a tender spot on her arm.

"Hurry up, will you!" said Hannah anxiously. A bright red sheet of parchment was clutched in Hannah's hand and it fluttered as she moved her arms around.

"What's that?" asked Lily, pointing to the parchment as she stumbled towards her closet and looked over her options, trying to decide what to wear. She had changed into a comfortable pair of shorts and camisole after breakfast.

"Nevermind that. I'll explain everything at lunch, which I am dragging you to in five minutes, whether you are dressed or not," said Hannah, still smiling excitedly.

"Alright," said Lily, rolling her eyes as she shoved on a pair of jeans and a random t-shirt, barely glancing at them to make sure they looked alright together. She was instead staring at Hannah, wondering if there were such things as alien invasions. Hannah was always cheerful in the morning, but this was verging on manic.

"Let's go," said Hannah, dragging Lily out of the door as soon as she had her arms in her shirt sleeves.

"Hold on, I need to stop at the bathroom," said Lily.

"Fine, you've got two minutes," said Hannah, sighing and plopping on the couch where she couldn't keep her legs from jiggling up and down.

When Lily returned Hannah jumped up and grabbed her arm again, towing her down the corridor towards Gryffindor tower.

"Wait, I thought we were going to lunch," said Lily as Hannah hurled the password (hippogriff) at the snoozing fat lady, who glared at them before the portrait swung forward.

"We are, but we need to get someone first," said Hannah cryptically.

"Oh, no," said Lily, stopping suddenly and planting her feet into the plushy red carpet.

"What?" said Hannah, stumbling sideways as she still had Lily's arm clutched in her hand.

"I am not going to see Carrie, Hannah. I hope you're not trying to get us to make up," said Lily, trying to keep her anger reigned in so that she didn't get into another fight with Hannah. She wouldn't budge on the issue between her and Carrie, but she didn't want to ruin her newly restored friendship with Hannah.

"I'm not getting Carrie. We need to get someone else to help with our plan," said Hannah, tugging on Lily's arm and towing her towards where the boy's dorms were located.

"Our plan? What plan?" asked Lily curiously as she ascended the steps beside Hannah.

Hannah just looked at Lily exasperatedly before she turned and opened the door of the seventh year boys' dorm. Loud snores filled the air as Lily followed Hannah directly across the room to one of the beds and pulled aside the hangings. Lily was horrified to see the slumbering figure of Sirius Black. He was curled up in a ball and she could instantly tell that he was the source of all of the noise. She noticed with horror that there was also quite a bit of drool on his pillow.

"Black," Hannah whispered quietly, leaning over him. Sirius just moaned and turned the opposite way.

"Don't get too close, Hannah. He might slobber on you," said Lily, backing into the middle of the room, thoroughly disgusted.

"Black," said Hannah louder, poking him with her finger.

"Mmmh," said Sirius, squirming in his bed. He turned towards Hannah and grabbed her around the wrist, pulling her towards him.

"Black," said Hannah in a panic, trying to pull her wrist out of his grasp.

"Mmmh," said Black again. He tugged her arm and she toppled onto him. He put his arms around her and hugged her, rolling to the side.

"Lily, a little help here," said Hannah, glaring as Lily began laughing hysterically.

"Mmmh, Evans," said Sirius, tightening his grip on Hannah. Lily froze, the laughter dying on her lips as she stared at Sirius. Hannah began laughing now, although he was pushing her head awfully close to the drool marks.

"Oy! Black!" screamed Hannah shoving at his chest. His eyes opened and he jumped when he saw Hannah in his arms.

"Oh, hello Matthews. You didn't have to wait until I fell asleep to cuddle with me. I wouldn't have said no," said Sirius, grinning cockily.

"Ugh, Black, you have dog breath," said Hannah, moving her head away from his. Sirius's bark of a laugh echoed through the room.

"What's going on?" asked Remus as he entered the room. He instantly focused on Hannah and Sirius laying in bed together and his eyes widened.

"Get off me, Black!" said Hannah, shoving his chest again.

"If you're sure that's what you really want," said Sirius, smirking as he sat up and moved away from Hannah. Hannah tried to roll off of the bed as gracefully as she could but she slipped on an edge of the sheets that was lying on the floor and slid onto her butt. When she stood up her face looked really red.

"Hi, Lupin," said Lily from behind him, in an effort to give Hannah a chance to compose herself.

"Hi, Evans. Hi, Matthews. What are you two doing here?" asked Remus, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Remember what we talked about last night?" asked Hannah shyly.

"Yes," said Remus.

"Well, I came up with a great idea. Why don't you guys meet us in the Great Hall for lunch?" asked Hannah.

"Alright," agreed Remus, a shy smile flashing across his face.

"I'm going back to bed," said Sirius, sinking back into the pillow.

"No, you're not," said Hannah defiantly.

"Wouldn't you rather cuddle some more, Matthews? We could get Moony to bring us lunch in bed," he said, holding the covers up for her to slide in, a smirk on his face.

"I don't know, Black. I think you'd rather cuddle with Lily," said Hannah, pushing Lily in front of her.

"What? What makes you say that?" asked Sirius, a slight pink tinge coming over his cheeks.

"Wow, I am SO hungry. I need to go to lunch _right now_ Hannah," said Lily, grabbing Hannah around the wrist and dragging her out of the dorm.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Hannah as they sat at the Gryffindor table for lunch. The Great Hall was packed, so they had a bit of trouble finding room at the table.

"Talk about what?" asked Lily.

"The fact that Black was fantasizing about being in bed with you," said Hannah, smiling at Lily as she grabbed a sandwich from a silver platter in front of her and inspected it.

"Shh, Hannah! He was _not_ talking about me," Lily insisted through gritted teeth. She looked around the table to make sure no one had heard Hannah.

"How many other Evans does he know?" asked Hannah.

"There's a chaser from the Holyhead Harpies whose last name is Evans," said Lily triumphantly after a minute.

"Yeah, ok. But I doubt Black was dreaming about her. She looks like she's taken one too many bludgers to the face," said Hannah, smiling irritatingly at her.

"Fine, there's always the famous Healer, Chantley Evans," said Lily.

"We're talking about Black, Lily," said Hannah.

"Why don't we talk about Lupin instead, Hannah. Why don't you tell me why were you so flustered when he saw you in bed with Black?" asked Lily, smiling maliciously as she turned on Hannah.

"Oh, um, that? I just, I didn't want anyone to see me with Black that way. Anyone would be embarrassed," said Hannah off-handily.

"All right, I will give you that much, but what about that shy smile you gave him when he said your name?" asked Lily, putting a roll and a bit of Shepherd's pie on her plate.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Hannah quietly, focusing way too much attention on buttering her roll.

"Yes you do. You're blushing right now just thinking about him," said Lily, amused to see patches of red appear on her cheeks.

"Hey Matthews, Evans," said Remus, sitting down across from Hannah. Lily noticed with excitement that he was blushing a bit when he looked at Hannah. The thoughts in her head all started swirling around. How was she going to get them together?

"Where's Black?" asked Lily, staring at the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Why, Lily? Thinking about going to cuddle with him?" asked Hannah, smirking at Lily.

"Shut it, Matthews," Lily growled.

"Um, I think he's coming soon. He was finally crawling out of bed when I left," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"Well, should I wait for him to start?" asked Hannah.

"No, go ahead," said Remus. He stared at Lily as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. All of the Marauders were now very suspicious of their drinks.

"I didn't do anything to it," said Lily. Remus took a big gulp. "Or did I?" Lily asked, smiling at him.

"I better not start talking like a cowboy again," said Remus, tucking into some of the bacon on his plate.

"I'm sure Hannah wouldn't mind going to a shindig with you," said Lily, looking pointedly at Hannah.

"Anyway, my _plan_," said Hannah, glaring at Lily and blushing madly.

"Does it involve chaps and lassos?" asked Lily.

"Lily," said Hannah in an irritated tone.

"What?" asked Lily in an effort to appear innocent.

"Remus and I have been thinking about how to get you and Potter together," said Hannah, putting her hand on Lily's arm.

"You've been WHAT?" asked Lily angrily.

"Don't get mad. We know you both like each other, so we're just doing you guys a favor," said Hannah.

"I think you're forgetting about the fact that James hates me right now. Didn't you hear him last night?" asked Lily, frowning as she remembered his indifferent face. She didn't want to deal with this right now.

"I know what that must have seemed like to you, Lily. But to me, it only proved that he _does_ still like you. He wouldn't have been so hurt if he doesn't like you," said Hannah logically. Lily just couldn't see that he still cared.

"Lily, I know James is in love with you," said Remus.

"It's so pathetically obvious," said Sirius, rolling his eyes as he slouched beside Remus on the bench in front of the table.

"Nice of you to show up, Black," said Hannah.

"Hey, you're lucky I got out of bed at all. It's the weekend," said Sirius.

"Whatever. Listen, so I came up with an idea for how we can get Lily and James back together," Hannah said excitedly.

"I think you guys all forgot about _my_ brilliant plan," said Sirius.

"Anyway, I think Lily's best chance for winning James over is if she gets on the Gryffindor Quidditch team," said Hannah enthusiastically. She held up the red parchment, which turned out to be an announcement for tryouts on Thursday. Lily snorted the pumpkin juice she was drinking across the table.

"I think you're forgetting one tiny fact, Hannah," said Lily.

"What's that? I think it's a brilliant plan," said Remus, beaming at Hannah.

"Yeah, it would be, if I could FLY," said Lily.

"Well, that's why Black is here. He can teach you how to ride a broomstick," said Hannah simply.

"I don't think he can make me good enough in four days to beat people who have been flying for years," said Lily.

"But Lily, you're the hardest worker I've ever known. If anyone can master something in a short amount of time, it's you," said Hannah.

"Maybe that's true of spells and academics, but that's not true when it comes to sports. I was always picked last for kickball and soccer teams in school," she said.

"What?" asked Sirius, Remus, and Hannah at the same time, staring curiously at Lily.

"Nevermind," said Lily. Sometimes it was hard being a muggleborn surrounded by pure and half-blood wizards.

"Lily, don't you want to be friends with James again?" asked Hannah, looking down the table to where James sat with Peter. Lily looked longingly down the table at James's rumpled hair, his shining hazel eyes, and his handsomely sculpted body and remembered how nice he had been to her in the past week, before that awful night.

"Yes," Lily admitted sadly.

"At least try to learn to ride a broom. I'm sure it won't be that bad," said Hannah.

Lily's palms sweat as she gripped the broom tightly. She was standing on the cushiony ground in the room of requirement. She had been amazed when Hannah and Remus had shown her the room, but she felt none of that amazement now. She just felt completely terrified.

"Ok, Lily. All you have to do is put your leg over the broom and kick off," instructed Sirius, demonstrating beside her. He kicked off and flew smoothly into the air.

"I don't think I can, Black," said Lily. Her arms and legs were shaking so much that she was afraid she was going to fall over from just standing near the broom.

"Of course you can, Lily. Little kids do it all the time. I was three years old when I rode my first real broom," said Black, who was now circling above Lily on his broom.

"Then I'm too old. I can't do it," said Lily.

"You know what? You're right, Lily. I don't think you can," said Hannah, remembering her friend's fierce stubborn streak. She struggled to keep a smile off of her face, knowing she was manipulating Lily.

"What?" asked Lily incredulously, staring at her best friend.

"You're right. I should have never mentioned it. I should have known all along that the broom is just not something you can master," said Hannah.

"You don't think I can do it?" asked Lily, her anger peaked.

"No, Lily, I don't," said Hannah firmly.

"Just watch," said Lily, funneling her anger into kicking off of the ground. She soared quickly upward, barely stopping in time to avoid hitting the ceiling.

"Yeah, Lily!" Remus and Hannah cheered from the ground.

"Well done, Evans," said Sirius as he flew towards her.

"I did it!" Lily shouted happily.

"I knew you could all along. You just needed to get over your fear," said Hannah, smiling impishly at Lily.

"You did that on purpose," said Lily angrily.

"Yep," Hannah said.

"You!" said Lily, pretending to be angry. She couldn't keep a huge grin off of her face.

"Come and get me," said Hannah tauntingly.

"You better watch it, Matthews. I'm a natural at broom riding," said Lily, zooming only a bit wobbly down to where Hannah stood.

For the next two days, Lily spent more hours than she cared to admit with Sirius. After two days of practicing broom flying skills fit in whenever they didn't have class or Lily didn't have patrol, she had improved quite a bit. On Tuesday night they worked at finding what position Lily would be best playing.

"How about being the seeker?" asked Sirius. He released the Golden Snitch and after several attempts of diving after the snitch and nearly crashing into the ground, Sirius decided that they better try something else before Lily ended up in the hospital wing. Lily had become quite fearless on a broomstick ever since that first day.

"Let's try you as a Keeper," said Sirius, hopping onto his own broom and carrying the Quaffle tucked in his left elbow. "Just keep your eye on the Quaffle and don't let it into any of the hoops," said Sirius.

"Alright," Lily agreed, hovering in front of the goal posts.

The first three Sirius threw lightly, and Lily caught them easily. The next one he threw, however, was thrown hand and fast. Lily dived to the right and back. She caught it just before it went into the hoop, but at the same time, her broom hit the bottom of the hoop and she was jolted backwards. She fell off of the broom and backwards through the hoop, still clutching the Quaffle.

Sirius zoomed forward and caught Lily before she could fall to the ground. His laughter echoed through the room as he took her back to her broom, which was hovering beside the goal post.

"Quit it, Black," said Lily, hitting him in the ribs.

"Ouch, Evans. You can't blame me for laughing. I'm pretty sure that's the first time a Keeper has let the Quaffle through the hoop _after_ they've caught it," said Sirius, smirking at her as she climbed onto her broom. "I wonder if that would be worth extra points."

"Shut up, Black, before I pummel you with a bludger," said Lily, her cheeks reddening. Although she had gotten past the obstacle of not being able to fly, she wasn't sure she'd be able to make the team. She couldn't be on the Quidditch team if she couldn't play any of the positions.

"That's it!" said Sirius, zooming to the ground and running to the box with the Quidditch balls.

"What? You _want _me to pummel you with a bludger?" she asked before comprehension dawned.

"No, I want you to try hitting it. I think you'd make a perfect beater," said Sirius. He took a thick bat out of the trunk and held it towards Lily.

"I don't know if I'll even be able to hold that thing," said Lily, reaching out to grab it. Sure enough, as soon as she had the bat clutched in her hand, she almost fell off of her broom.

"Hmm," said Sirius. "What if we shrink it or make it lighter?"

"I guess we could try. But it might not be as effective," said Lily, pulling out her wand and trying to make it lighter first. Now she could hold the bat in her hands without buckling under the weight.

"Alright, I'm going to release one of the bludgers now. Just chase it and smack it," said Sirius, pulling the leather strap that was holding the ball in place to release it. The bludger zoomed into the air and Lily flew after it. When she reached it, she pulled back the bat and gave it a forceful smack. It flew through the air in the opposite direction, collided with the middle goal post with a metallic clang, and zoomed back at her. She hit it forcefully again, and it flew through the air again, this time towards one of the walls, where it bounced off.

"I'm going to get it through the hoop now," said Lily. She smacked the bludger when it came back towards the hoop. It zoomed through the air and went sailing through the right hoop, banking off the wall behind it, and zooming towards the box with the other balls. Sirius slowed it with his wand and stuffed it into the slot for it, pulling the leather strap over to secure it.

"I think Gryffindor has found its next beater," said Sirius, beaming at Lily.

James stifled a groan as a knock sounded on his door early on Wednesday morning. Rolling onto his side, he shoved the pillow over his head and tried to fall back to sleep. Two seconds later the knock sounded again. James pulled on a shirt and threw open his door, ready to blast whoever was behind it. But when he saw who it was, all of the anger in his body evaporated.  
"Matthews?" James said in confusion.  
"Potter, you've got to help me," Hannah said frantically.  
"What? Matthews, what's going on?" asked James as he rubbed his tired eyes.  
"I don't have time to explain, Potter! Please come!" said Hannah desperately. Her hair was sticking up all over the place and her eyes were wide with terror.  
"Alright, Matthews, just let me get dressed," said James, starting to close the door.  
"There's no time, Potter," she said, wringing her hands.  
"Alright," said James, grabbing a pair of pants off of the back of his chair and rushing through his door. James followed as Hannah moved quickly down the hallway. He nearly fell over onto his face as he tried to quickly shove his legs into his pants while running.

Hannah stopped in front of the tapestry that was across from the room of requirement and paced three times back and forth before the door appeared in the wall opposite the tapestry. As soon as the door appeared, Hannah pulled James inside. The room of requirement was transformed into a huge, cavernous room with a high ceiling, the same one that he used to practice Quidditch when the weather was bad. Lily was lying on her back in the center of the room, her eyes closed.

"Hannah, what happened?" asked James frantically. He ran over to Lily and saw that she was still breathing, but her breaths sounded like they were shallow. He felt her pulse and it was beating very slowly.

"I'll explain after we get her to the hospital wing," said Hannah, rushing over to them.

"I've got her," said James. He picked Lily up from the ground and when her head rolled towards him he gasped. The left side of her face was one giant bruise.

"Hannah, what happened to her?" asked James in a panicked voice.

"Careful, she fell quite a bit," said Hannah, tears spilling down her cheeks.

James clutched Lily close to his chest and ran down the corridor to the hospital wing, panic growing in his stomach with each second that passed. He stared down at her perfect face, his eyes glazing over with tears. He couldn't believe that his Lily had been so badly hurt. And just then he realized that what he had thought was completely, one hundred percent true. She was his Lily, and she would always be his Lily.

As he burst into the hospital wing, Madame Pomphery, the young healer, jumped and walked quickly out of her office.

"What happened?" asked Madame Pomphery, walking over to one of the empty beds and gesturing for James to put Lily onto it.

"She was practicing Quidditch, Madame Pomphery," said Hannah as she walked into the hospital wing, winded from her jog through the corridors, "she had lightened her beater's bat because it was too heavy for her. It snapped in half when she hit a bludger and the bludger hit her on the side of the face. She fell from about five feet above the ground."

"When will they stop playing that dangerous sport? Half of the injuries that I have to deal with are caused by it!" said Madame Pomphery, bending over Lily to examine her.

"Will she be alright?" asked James in a worried voice.

"Why don't you come back around lunch time? Classes will be starting soon and I need some time to examine her," said Madame Pomphery distractedly, looking at the bruise on Lily's cheek.

"Couldn't I just stay here and wait?" asked James hopefully, his eyes transfixed on Lily.

"No, out," said Madame Pomphery firmly, turning to shoo them out of the hospital wing.

"Please," said Hannah.

"Get going, or I won't let you back at lunch time," said Madame Pomphery, shutting the door to the hospital wing with a bang.

"Matthews?" asked James as they began walking down the corridor to the Great Hall for some breakfast.

"Yeah?" asked Hannah.

"Why was Lily practicing Quidditch in the first place? I thought she was afraid of riding a broom," said James.

"She was afraid, before I convinced her that she might be able to win you back if she tried out for the Gryffindor team. It's all my fault," said Hannah miserably.

"No, Matthews. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine for being such a bloody prat. I should have just forgiven her on Saturday night when she asked me. Merlin, I shouldn't have even thrown that stupid party after Lily told me not to," said James in distress.

"She will wake up, won't she Potter?" asked Hannah, a torrent of tears running from her eyes.

"I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't," said James, thinking about Lily's limp body lying on the hospital wing bed.

* * *

AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Check back again next Wednesday for the next installment. I must warn you though, I might be slower at posting after next week, cause classes start a week from Monday :( I will still try to post every Wednesday, but I can't promise anything.

Well, as always, feel free to tell me what you liked/ didn't like in this chapter. The review button is sitting right below, tempting you to click on it! See how it's mocking you?

Lol.

Anyway, good night and happy fanficing.

Love,

Littlemisskrissy.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: So, if I lived in California, this would totally still be on time. However, I live on the east coast, so it's technically right now 37 minutes late. Ooops. I tried. This is also the longest chapter I have written so far. I had a really hard time figuring out what i wanted to do all week since my last post, and this all just kind of popped out at the last minute. So, that being said, it is very rough. I haven't even proofread it yet, so I'm sure there are mistakes galore. I apologize, but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible since I promised.

Disclaimer: As you probably already know by now, I am not JK Rowling, I do not have a castle, and I do not own Harry Potter or any of his world.

* * *

James flew out of the door of his Charms class the moment that Professor Flitwick dismissed them. He fought through the swarms of people heading to the Great Hall for lunch, his mind completely focused on a red-head who was lying in the hospital wing. All morning, James had been unable to keep his thoughts from wandering to her. In Potions they had been brewing the Amortentia potion, and for the rest of his morning, he could not get the scent of vanilla and honeysuckle out of his head. He knew it was all Lily, and the scent hung around him, befuddling his brain. He had knocked over his cauldron of Amortentia and he wasn't quite sure what they were supposed to have been doing in Charms. He had anxiously been waiting for this moment since he had left her in the hospital wing earlier that morning.

And yet, as he neared the door to the hospital wing, he slowed down. He felt a sense of dread coming over him. What if Lily hadn't woken yet? What if she wasn't ok? Bludgers were heavy; he knew the force that was behind them. In his third year he had been hit in the back with one while he was trying to score against Slytherin. He had spent a very uncomfortable night having the bones in his back mended. But he hadn't ever seen anyone hit with a bludger in the face. He knew Madame Pomphery was supposed to be an excellent healer, but he also knew there were floors and floors of patients at St. Mungo's that even the most skilled healers couldn't cure. Magic, as great and useful as it was, couldn't fix everything.

James stood transfixed in front of the door, trying to stir up that Gryffindor bravery that was supposedly lurking inside of him somewhere, but he couldn't stop the panic from rising within him. He felt panic that Lily hadn't woken yet and panic that she had and she was angry with him.

"Are you going in?" asked Hannah from behind him. He could see her red-rimmed eyes and knew she understood how he was feeling.

"Yeah," he said quietly, holding the door open for her. She glided past him through the door but then walked slowly down the aisle between the rows of beds. He knew she could sense it, the way that one glimpse could forever alter the course of their lives. Once something is known, there are no fantasies, no hopes, no dreams. There is only fact, cruel and tormenting, if the worst was to happen.

"I had a feeling you two would be back as soon as classes let out for lunch," said Madame Pomphery in a controlled voice. Her face was a carefully blank mask as she walked out of her office.

"How is she?" asked James, wincing as the words erupted from his mouth without much thought. He wasn't sure he wanted that question answered.

"The arm and leg on her left side were both fractured, so I mended them quite easily. But her cheek and forehead on that left side is extremely swollen. I'm afraid she's still unconscious, Mr. Potter," said Madame Pomphery in that same controlled voice.

"Will she," said Hannah quietly, trailing off with a frown.

"I'm not sure, dears. We'll just have to wait and see," said Madame Pomphery clinically.

"Can we see her now?" asked James, unable to keep his voice steady. He tried to clear his throat, but it seemed permanently clogged.

"Of course," said Madame Pomphery, gliding down the rows of beds to stop at one with a white curtain pulled around it. She pulled back the curtain and there was Lily, looking extremely small with the sheets pulled up to her shoulders. She lay rigid, unmoving, with her eyes closed in the bed, the entire right side of her face swollen and covered in a giant black and blue bruise.

"I have some things to take care of, so I'll just leave you with her," she said, pulling up two chairs beside Lily's bed with her wand before hurrying off to her office.

"Lily," said James quietly, his voice breaking. He stroked her healthy cheek, feeling tears gathering in his eyes. "Come back to me."

"I can't believe this is happening," sobbed Hannah, collapsing on one of the chairs beside Lily's bed.

"At least you made up with her before she," he said miserably, his voice trailing off, "I was so mean to her, and that might be the last," said James, his voice breaking horribly as he stared at her face, those sparkling, lively green eyes covered by heavy eyelids.

"She has to wake up," said Hannah. "She's going to wake up. And then you'll be able to apologize."

"I hope so," said James miserably.

James took Lily's small hand in his and sat down beside her, drawing his chair closer to her. Hannah and James were silent as they sat with their heavy thoughts weighing them down. It seemed like hours passed as they sat there, swamped in their grief, but James knew it was only a half-hour before Madame Pomphery returned.

"Why don't you two go get some lunch and then go to class," said Madame Pomphery kindly. James blinked away the tears that were filling his eyes, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"I think I should stay here," said James, squeezing Lily's hand.

"Me too," said Hannah.

"Alright, let me put it this way. Go get some lunch right now and get back to class, otherwise I won't let you visit for the rest of the day," said Madame Pomphery firmly.

James stared at the healer for a second to gauge her sincerity. When he saw a steely look on her face, he got up, squeezed Lily's hand one more time, and tucked it in the blankets with promises to return as soon as classes were done for the day. He walked to the hospital wing's door with Hannah beside him and gazed once more at Lily's pale, small figure before he headed into the hallway.

Instead of heading to the Great Hall for lunch, Hannah walked quickly back to the Gryffindor Tower. She felt numb and barely focused on the corridors that she was walking down. Her thoughts were still with Lily, back in the hospital wing. How could she have ever suggested that Lily try out for the Quidditch team when she knew her fear of brooms? Hannah stood in front of the portrait of the fat lady for a few minutes before she remembered that she hadn't said the password.

Hannah climbed the stairs to her dormitory slowly and plopped onto her bed face-first, dissolving into sobs. She clutched her pillow tightly and felt her body convulse with sobs. She had never been in this situation before. She had never had to worry like this about someone she loved.

Hannah heard footsteps climbing the stairs and she tensed, trying to silence her sobbing. She only managed to muffle them with her pillow. The door open and she knew that whoever had just entered could hear her. They paused in front of her bed and hesitated a moment before coming towards her.

"Hannah?" asked Carrie hesitantly.

Hannah just continued to sob, unable to speak, not knowing if she really wanted to anyway.

"What happened, Hannah?" asked Carrie, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling back the hair that was covering Hannah's face.

"It's Lily," said Hannah, gasping for breath.

"What terrible thing did she do now?" asked Carrie angrily, her posture going rigid. Hannah felt hot rage sliding through her and she sat up jerkily, pushing Carrie's hand away from her as she glowered at her.

"She got hit in the head with a bludger and now she might not ever wake up again," Hannah shouted at Carrie.

"What?" asked Carrie, her face looking frozen. Her hand was still hanging in the air between them.

"Oh, I thought you'd be happy," snapped Hannah bitterly.

"How can you say that? She's my," said Carrie, her eyes filling with tears.

"Don't you dare cry, Carrie! Not after everything you did," said Hannah, flinging herself off of her bed and streaking to the door.

"Hannah," said Carrie sadly, tears running down her face. Her eyes were pleading for comfort as she sat staring up at Hannah in horror.

Hannah turned away, walked out, and slammed the door behind her. Hannah knew it wasn't like her to act like this. It wasn't like her to yell and scream at her friends. She usually glossed over everything, smoothing out the rough edges so that everyone would feel better. But she didn't want to do that now. Right now she just wanted someone to stand still so that she could hurl something at them. She wanted to focus on anger, because feeling the gut-crushing guilt and sorrow that had come over her was too much to handle on her own.

James thought about following Madame Pomphery's orders. He had even decided that he was going to follow them as he walked out of the door of the hospital wing. But instead of walking to the Great Hall as she had instructed, he found himself walking down the corridor that lead to the Head common room. He paused briefly in the doorway to his room before he made up his mind. Whatever the consequences, he needed to be with Lily.

He dashed into his room and rifled through his trunk to find his cloak and map. The cloak he found easily, just under a few layers of t-shirts and socks. But he couldn't find the map. If he was going to sit behind the curtain with Lily all afternoon and night, he would need to have the map to see when Madame Pomphery was coming, so that he could slip the cloak back over his head. He rifled through his things once more before he remembered that Sirius had borrowed it on Friday before the party so that he could sneak into Hogsmede for the Butterbeer and Firewhisky.

Gritting his teeth and looking down at his watch, James stuffed the cloak in his back pocket and hurried out of his room, running down the corridors towards the Gryffindor Tower. Luck was with him, and as he arrived in front of the Fat Lady, Sirius was just leaving the common room with Remus and Peter on either side.

"Black, I need the map," hurled James as soon as Sirius began walking towards him. He wasn't particularly happy with Sirius at the moment, and he didn't want Sirius to think he was ready to be friends again.

"It's in my trunk," said Sirius tonelessly.

"Well, can you go get it?" asked James impatiently.

"Prongs," growled Sirius, annoyed at the way James was talking to him.

"Go get it now!" bellowed James.

"Alright already," said Sirius, shooting James a glare before he turned and walked back into the common room.

"Prongs," said Remus tiredly. He looked awful, and James tried to remember when the next full moon would happen. He had lost track over the summer.

"Hi Moony," said James, calming down slightly. Remus's presence generally did that to him.

"I know you're mad at Padfoot, but don't be so hard on him. He's trying to make up for it," said Remus patiently.

"There's just too much going on right now, Moony. I can't deal with this right now," said James wearily, running his hand through his hair, nerves dancing off of him. He couldn't stand each second that he stayed away from Lily.

"Is everything ok, Prongs?" Remus asked soothingly.

"No, Moony, it's not," said James, trying desperately to not let his grief show. He held himself rigid and stiff so that he wouldn't start crying in front of his friends.

"What happened?" asked Remus gently.

"It's Lily," said James, pausing so that he could take a deep breath. He could feel that his voice was about to crack and betray just how much was going on underneath his carefully controlled mask.

"What did she do this time?" asked Remus, allowing a slight bit of frustration to creep into his tone.

"She got hit with a bludger, Moony, right in the face. She's unconscious. She hasn't woken up yet," said James, unable to keep his voice from breaking. He was mortified to feel a trickle of tears fall down his cheek.

"Whoa, I've never seen anyone take a bludger to the face before! Did her head nearly come off?" asked Peter excitedly. James glared at him and Remus shook his head violently at Peter, glancing at James to make sure that he wouldn't lash out.

"Does Matthews know?" asked Remus suddenly.

"Yeah, she was there with her when it happened," said James, sniffling as inconspicuously as he could and looking away so he could covertly wipe under his eyes.

"Here's your bloody map Potter," growled Sirius, thrusting the parchment towards James. Then he noticed James's red eyes and miserable expression. "James, what's wrong?"

"See you later, Moony, Wormtail," called James, striding back down the corridor.

"Wait, Prongs!" shouted Sirius, but James kept on going, making his way to the hospital wing. Right outside the door, he paused to check over the map. Madame Pomphery was still in her office. James slipped the cloak over his head after he made sure that the hallway was deserted. He then carefully crept into the hospital wing, making sure that he opened and shut the door very slowly and soundlessly. He crept past Madame Pomphery's office and slipped into the curtained-off area around Lily's bed.

James went immediately over to where Lily lay in the bed. Her eyes were still cold, and the bruise on her cheek and forehead had darkened to a deep purple and black color. He sat down on the edge of her bed and kissed her cheek, finding the hand that he had tucked into the blanket exactly where he had left it. He held her hand for a long time while tears trailed down his face, begging her silently to wake up.

"Hey, Matthews," said a voice coming from down the corridor as she walked past the hospital wing to her next lesson. She had spent the past few minutes in Myrtle's bathroom, crying and alternately conjuring china plates that she could hurl against the wall. Myrtle had had a wonderful time teasing her for it, until she threw a plate through Myrtle's head. Myrtle had dissolved into sobs of her own, and Hannah had to leave as the sound was deafening. She peered in at the door to the Hospital Wing, realized that she couldn't see Lily's bed, and hurried on. Madame Pomphery was a serious woman. She didn't say anything she didn't mean. So Hannah was startled when she heard the voice, but even more startled when she saw who it was.

"What do you want?" growled Hannah, quickening her pace.

"I just," Snape said, faltering. He looked extremely uncomfortable. He kept shifting his gaze to either side of the corridor, probably making sure none of his Slytherin pals were around, "Is Lily ok?"

"What does it matter to you?" she asked angrily, feeling as if she was about to hit Snape. Hexing him wouldn't do, she wanted to feel him crumple under the weight of her own bare hands.

"I, I just," said Snape, glancing down the halls and spotting Avery and Dolohov, "wanted to know if the world would be rid of one more Mudblood. That would certainly be reason to celebrate." His eyes looked panicked and full of misery. Hannah had always been extremely perceptive, and she had known for a long time that Snape still had feelings for Lily. But she also knew that he was a slimy git who had been sucked into the group of the pure-blood elitists.

"You're vile," said Hannah. "And even if Lily does wake up, she still hates you."

Hannah took one satisfied glance at Snape's hurt face before walking quickly down the corridor to her Transfiguration lesson. She itched to punch him, but she knew that he wasn't really worth the effort. Even still, she couldn't help thinking that when Lily woke, and she refused to believe that she wouldn't, she would love to watch Snape's face as he saw Lily and James kiss.

"Matthews?" said a voice as an arm grabbed her just outside of the transfiguration classroom.

"You better get your greasy hands off of me," she said angrily before she turned and saw Remus standing beside her. "Oh, it's you Lupin. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and tried to calm her anger.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked in a concerned voice.

"Um, not really," said Hannah quietly, feeling tears fill her eyes again. She felt so stupid breaking down in sobs again. All morning she had felt way too over-emotional. She started crying at anything.

"Do you want to skip?" asked Remus, eyeing her patiently.

"Alright. I'm sure Lily will wake immediately to yell at me when she hears I did," said Hannah with a watery smile as Remus led her down the hall.

"Why don't you go to the Room of Requirement? I'll be there in a couple of minutes," said Remus.

"Where are you going?" asked Hannah.

Remus just smiled at Hannah before he sped off in the opposite direction.

"She's right through here, headmaster," said Madame Pomphery, her heels clicking against the wooden floor. James jolted awake, his heart pounding. He had been sitting next to Lily, holding her hand for quite a while before he started to feel how much the panic that morning had exhausted him. He must have drifted off shortly after.

Now he scrambled for his cloak, which was lying on the floor beside Lily's bed. He tucked it over himself feeling some of the panic subside. He still needed to remain alert and make sure that no one bumped into him. He had no doubt that if Madame Pomphery caught him, she would definitely kick him out of the hospital wing for the rest of the day.

"And she has not woken yet?" asked Dumbledore as Madame Pomphery pulled the curtains back. James saw a worried look over his lined, ancient face.

"No, headmaster. I'm not sure that she will. Perhaps we had better send her to St. Mungo's?" asked Madame Pomphery. James felt a new panic come over him at her words. He didn't like the idea of being so far away from her, and being unable to see her each day.

"Not yet Poppy. I have every confidence in you, and I don't know that there's anything more that the healers at St. Mungo's could do for her. I think it's best not to move her," said Dumbledore, looking around the curtained-off area, his eyes resting on James for a moment. James was sure that Dumbledore couldn't see him, but it still unnerved him that there was a possibility he had.

"Thank you, Albus," said Madame Pomphery graciously, her eyes shining.

"Poppy, I am going now to speak with her parents and inform them of the situation. I thought a note by owl might be a bit cold, especially in these circumstances. Would you mind getting me a cup of tea before I go?" asked Dumbledore kindly, his eyes twinkling.

"Of course, headmaster. I'll be right back," said Madame Pomphery, her heels clicking on the floor as she walked to her office.

"Hello Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore quietly as soon as they heard the door to Madame Pomphery's office shut. James jumped and stared at Dumbledore in disbelief.

"How, how did you?" asked James in disbelief.

"Oh, I can't see you through your invisibility cloak, Mr. Potter. I just had a hunch that you'd be here," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I know I shouldn't be here," said James apologetically. He wondered how much trouble he would be in now, but realized that he didn't really care. He knew he had done the right thing.

"It's alright, Mr. Potter. I can't say that I really blame you," said Dumbledore. "Some things are worth the consequences."

"Consequences?" James asked hesitantly.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell Poppy that you're here, as long as you promise to go to all of your classes for the rest of the week," said Dumbledore kindly.

"Thank you, professor," said James.

"Well, I must be off. Remember what I said, Mr. Potter. I know it might be hard, but you must go to your classes. Miss Evans will have a fit when she wakes and finds out that you've been skiving off lessons," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling as he closed the curtain back around Lily's bed.

Hannah sat on the couch in the Room of Requirement, flipping through a book that she had pulled from one of the shelves. She tried to read but her mind was too preoccupied. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want to think about Lily and the possibility that she wouldn't wake, but she couldn't stop her brain from spinning in that direction. She kept wondering what she would do if the worst were to happen. She, Lily, and Carrie had always planned to get an apartment together after they graduated. Things had been bad between Carrie and Lily lately, but she always thought they would get over their issues in time. She tried to calm herself down, tried desperately to focus on the blocks of text in front of her, but her brain wouldn't cooperate.

Feeling anger, frustration, and overwhelming sadness coming over her in a wave, she dissolved once more in tears, feeling completely stupid. She picked up the book and hurled it across the room just as the door opened. The book just missed Remus's head and smacked against the wall beside him with a loud thud.

"Was the book really that bad?" asked Remus as he walked in the door with a large sundae clutched in each fist.

"Hi Lupin. I'm so sorry," said Hannah, blushing madly as she stalked across the floor and picked up the book.

"It's ok, Matthews. I understand. I've used this room to vent before," said Remus kindly, placing both ice creams on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"You have?" asked Hannah, wiping the tears from under her eyes. She almost laughed at the picture of Remus chucking books across the room. The picture didn't seem to fit.

"Yeah," said Remus uncomfortably, "but that's not important now. How are you doing?" he asked as he sat down on the couch.

"I don't know, Lupin. I'm just really scared," said Hannah, sitting on the couch and hugging her knees to her chest to cover the tears that were still running down her cheeks.

"Hannah," said Remus tenderly, placing his hand on her shoulder. A jolt of warmth spread through her shoulder and traveled down her body at his touch. She looked up at him with wide eyes, tears still falling down her cheeks. He looked at her with concern clearly written on his face. He traced his thumb gently under her eyes and wiped a tear away.

"Remus, it's all my fault," said Hannah miserably when he looked away for a second.

"Hannah, how is that even possible?" he asked quietly, putting his arm around her to comfort her.

"I was the one who convinced her that she needed to join the Gryffindor team, Remus. I knew she was afraid of riding brooms and I still pushed her. Maybe there was a reason for her fear," said Hannah miserably.

"No, Hannah. When Lily got over her fear, she loved flying. It was an accident that she got hurt," said Remus, tightening his grip on her shoulders and pulling her close to him. She could smell a slight hint of a nice soap smell as he pulled her to his chest. She focused on the scent, trying to block all other thoughts out.

"Remus," Hannah began. She pulled back slightly and stared up into his eyes.

"Yes, Hannah?" asked Remus in a whisper.

"Do you want to spend some time together tonight? I mean, we don't have to do anything special. We could just do homework. It's just, you make me feel better," said Hannah. Something in Remus's eyes flashed after a second of them staring at each other. He began to pull back.

"Um, I can't," he said quickly.

"Oh, um, alright," said Hannah, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, our ice cream is going to melt if we don't eat it soon," said Remus, letting go of Hannah and turning to his ice cream.

"Oh, yeah," said Hannah, turning to her ice cream, a blush rising over her cheeks.

"Prongs?" James heard a voice say as he sat beside Lily, holding her hand. Lily still hadn't woken yet, and as the hours stretched on, he became more and more worried. Fifteen minutes ago, it had been time for classes to be let out for the day, so he had exited the hospital wing under the invisibility cloak and walked back in uncovered.

"James?" whispered Sirius's voice again. James could just make out the bottom of his sneakers in the space between the end of the curtain and the floor.

Sirius pulled back the curtains around Lily's bed and strode across the space in between him and James. He had a frown on his face and he glanced at Lily briefly before he focused back on James.

"I'm really sorry, Prongs," said Sirius, sitting down on the chair next to James. James remained silent, feeling tension welling through him. His mind felt too full to think about Sirius too.

"I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but when Moony told me about what happened," said Sirius. He trailed off and cleared his throat. He glanced again briefly at Lily's small body swamped in the huge white sheets. "We've been best mates for a long time, James, and I always said I'd be here for you when you need me. I'm just keeping my promise."

They sat in silence. James marveled for a moment at the fact that Sirius was able to sit so quietly for so long. James glanced at him several times, wondering if it was driving him crazy. He could see little inklings that it was. Sirius kept jiggling his legs up and down and shifting his position on the chair. He was playing with a bit of string hanging off his robes.

"You know you don't have to sit here with me, Sirius," said James. The tension had remained in the room through the silence, and James had remained silent until he couldn't bare it anymore.

"What? No, I'm fine," said Sirius, glancing briefly at James. He stayed still for a minute before he began swinging his feet back and forth and playing with the string on his robes again.

"Pads, come on. I know you better than anyone else. I know you can't stand sitting here in silence," said James. James himself was starting to get tired of the silence. He was still really sad and really worried, but sitting and moping just wasn't something he did. He liked to be around people.

"Well, alright, it is kind of making me want to tear my hair out, but I'm just trying to show you that I care about you," said Sirius.

"I know you do, Pads," said James. He glanced sideways at Sirius before turning back to Lily.

"Do you want to talk about her?" asked Sirius.

"Not really, Pads. I, what've you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around a lot," said James, tired of being upset.

"Well, I was teaching Evans to fly on a broomstick," admitted Sirius hesitantly.

"You _what_?" asked James, turning to glare at Sirius. A sort of frenzy came over him as he thought about Sirius and Lily spending time with each other. James should have been the one to teach Lily to fly on a broomstick, not Sirius!

"Well, Matthews gave her the idea that she could win you over if she made the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She asked me to teach Lily," said Sirius.

"So this is all your fault!" screamed James.

"What? No! No, it's not James! She wanted to do it!" said Sirius defensively.

"Yeah, but you just went along with it without thinking, just as you did when she kissed you!" growled James, anger flashing through his eyes.

"Hey, the two things are completely different! The only reason I agreed to help Lily was so that you two could finally get together and you would finally get off my back for something that wasn't my fault!" said Sirius.

"Oh, yeah right, Black! You were just trying to spend more time with her! You like her, too!" shouted James, jumping out of his chair and advancing to where Sirius was sitting.

"You're a bloody possessive git, James! I don't want your stupid girl!" screamed Sirius, jumping up too, his chair falling over and smacking against the ground.

"Don't call her stupid, you wanker!" shouted James.

"You're just attacking me because you know you don't have a shot with her!" said Sirius.

"Yeah, Black? Is that so? You know she only kissed you to make me jealous. She wants me! But you, have you ever even kissed a girl that wasn't completely smashed? They can't stand to be near you for more than it takes to kiss you and realize even that was a mistake!" said James acidly.

"You're a bloody arse James! Why don't you just spend the rest of the night mooning over your poor unconscious girl by yourself? I knew you would forget all about the full moon tonight. Don't worry, Wormtail and I will take care of it," growled Sirius, ripping back the curtain and striding towards the hospital wing doors.

"Black you're a," shouted James, breaking off as he saw Madame Pomphery running out of her office.

"What is going on here, boys?" asked Madame Pomphery sternly.

"Nothing," both boys said at the same time.

"I expect it to be quiet in here! If you can't keep your voices down then I will have to kick you out! I have sick patients who are trying to rest," she said sharply and shot both of them a glare before she marched back to her office.

Sirius slammed the door behind him and James stomped back to Lily's bedside, fuming. It was true that he had completely forgotten when the full moon would happen. He had just had a lot on his mind lately. Although he didn't like the idea of leaving Lily, he knew that he would have to go soon. He couldn't leave Sirius and Peter to watch Moony themselves. Although he was so mad at Sirius that he told himself that he didn't care what happened to him, he knew it wasn't true. Through everything, he still cared about Sirius, the irritating git.

At four-thirty James knew that he had to leave Lily to find the rest of the Marauders. He was dreading spending a whole night away from her. What if she woke up when he wasn't here? He wouldn't find out about it until the next morning, and he would have spent the whole time worrying for nothing. Sighing, he kissed Lily's health cheek and squeezed her hand.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning, Lily. Please get better," he said, his voice breaking once more.

With one more look at her face he walked out of the hospital wing while he still could. If he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to leave. He walked down the corridor toward the Gryffindor tower, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Lily. He hurled the password at the Fat Lady and walked across the common room.

"Potter," said a female voice behind him. He turned to see Hannah standing behind him.

"Hey Matthews," said James.

"Are you going to visit Lily tonight?" she asked.

"No, I was just there. I have plans tonight," said James regretfully.

"Is there some secret Marauder meeting tonight?" asked Hannah curiously.

"Um, no, Hannah. I just need to get my Potions book back from Peter. He borrowed it," James said distractedly.

"Oh. Alright. Well, how's Lily?" asked Hannah.

"Um, she's no different," said James, edging away from her.

"Is something wrong, Potter?" she asked. He was acting very odd.

"No, why would you say that? Everything's fine. Um, I gotta go, Matthews. See you later," he said, walking quickly up the steps to the seventh year boy's dormitory.

"See you," said Hannah in confusion at James's strange behavior. She walked slowly out of the common room and headed to the hospital wing to spend some time with Lily.

James, Sirius, and Peter crept across the silent and darkening expanses of the grounds surrounding Hogwarts. There was a brilliant sunrise in the sky above them, but none of them noticed it. James was brooding about being away from Lily and feeling anger coarse through him as whenever Sirius called attention to himself. Sirius was alternately wondering if Lily's accident was his fault and thinking that James was a stupid prat, and Peter was just thinking about a girl that had smiled at him in the halls earlier that day.

They reached the edge of the forbidden forest and stepped just inside the shade of the trees. They transformed into their animagus forms quickly and silently. Usually they spent this time laughing and joking and coming up with pranks, but everything was tense now. James's hooves slapped the ground as they stepped out of the cover of the trees. James ran to the whomping willow and stopped just out of range, waiting for Wormtail to hit the knot in the tree so that they could get Moony. As soon as the tree stopped swaying, he ran to the tunnel, enjoying the feeling of the wind against his fur. The trip was too short for him to relax, but he told himself that as soon as they let Moony out, he would have plenty of time to loose himself in the feeling of the wind rushing around him, his hooves beating the ground, and the exertion he felt in his muscles.

Moony was restless when the rest of the Marauders reached him. There were several more long scratches on the walls than the last time, and he had completely destroyed the pillow that they had left in there for him at the end of the previous year. There were feathers all over the floor, and several in his fur. As soon as Moony saw them, he chased after them doggedly. James had to turn right around and run back down the tunnel as soon as Moony caught sight of him.

They spent several hours running through the forest. James almost enjoyed it, but every time he felt himself begin to relax he would think about Lily. He was anxious to get back to her, and he had already decided that as soon as he got back into the castle he would go to visit her. He knew he would be exhausted, but he felt anxious to be with her.

Sirius had stayed on the other side of Moony the entire night. James was glad. During regular nights when they weren't in a fight, James and Sirius usually raced each other, had contests to see who could jump higher, and played catch with pine cones and rocks that they found in the forest. But tonight, both were too angry. They ignored each other, and Wormtail kept scurrying back and forth between them in confusion.

In the middle of the night, all of a sudden Moony howled at the moon and took off in the opposite direction from James, Sirius, and Peter. James and Sirius tensed, running as fast as they could after him. They could tell that Moony was filled with determination and they were filled with horror, wondering what he was running towards. When they were five feet away from Moony, they suddenly saw what had caught his attention. There was a cluster of people standing in the forest. James and Sirius didn't have time to focus on what they were doing in the forest, or what they were saying. They had to stop Moony before he killed someone!

James pushed himself faster than he had ever gone before. His muscles screamed in protest as he drew level with Moony. He pushed himself again and darted in front of Moony just ten feet away from the group of people. Moony lashed out at James with his claws, and, too exhausted to move quickly enough to avoid it, they ripped through his shoulder. He gritted his teeth in pain but danced back and forth in front of Moony, trying to distract him. Each time his hoof hit the ground he felt a tearing pain in his shoulder. He wondered if the people were doomed. Moony didn't seem to be able to be distracted.

Sirius grabbed a stick in his mouth and hit Moony on the back with it. Moony glanced behind him, and James took the opportunity to dart to the other side and kick Moony in the other side. Moony glanced over at him and advanced toward him. James began running away from the group of people, but he felt his leg give way underneath him after only a few strides. Moony was still advancing on him, his huge claws gleaming in the moonlight. James lay in the grass, trying desperately to scramble to his hooves and run away.

When Moony was only a few feet away, Sirius jumped in front of him and used the stick to rap him on the nose. Moony turned toward Sirius and began following him. James lay in the grass for a long time, panting and begging the pain in his shoulder to go away. He kept telling himself to get up. Sirius and Peter probably needed him. But his shoulder didn't seem to be able to bare any of his weight anymore.

James didn't know how long he lay there before he saw Sirius loping back to him through the trees. Sirius transfigured back into his human form and walked up to James where he lay in the grass. Peter was right behind him; already back in his human form.

"James? Are you alright?" asked Sirius. James just blinked at Sirius as he couldn't talk in his animagus form.

"He can't answer you, Pads," said Peter, rolling his eyes.

"Right. Well, you'd better change back to your human form so that we can take you back to the castle," said Sirius.

James nodded his head, which felt extremely heavy all of a sudden, and he focused on changing back into a human. With a gasp and then a scream, he changed back into his normal self. His shoulder felt like it was being pulled apart when he transformed. Sirius was beside him in a second, reaching down to help him up. James didn't bother protesting. He was in too much pain to care that he was mad at Sirius.

"What are we going to tell Madame Pomphrey?" asked Sirius as he guided James through the forest.

"Ugh, I don't know," said James. "Maybe it's not so bad. I probably don't need to go see her."

"Really?" asked Sirius, poking James in the shoulder. He screamed as pain shot through his shoulder.

"Alright, Padfoot. You didn't have to do that!" growled James. He was sweaty and he felt awful.

"Sorry. So, what are we going to tell her?" asked Sirius.

"Cat scratch?" asked Peter.

"Do you see the size of that scratch mark, Wormtail? There's no way she'd believe us," said Sirius. James would have laughed at how logical Sirius was acting, but he was in too much pain.

"There's no way to avoid getting into trouble, Sirius. Why don't you and Peter go to bed, and I'll go to the hospital wing by myself. I'll say that I wandered into the forbidden forest in my sleep and was attacked by one of the creatures in the forest. I'll say it was so dark I didn't see what it was," said James.

"Psh, Prongs! We're Marauders! Since when do we care about getting into trouble?" asked Sirius.

"Um," said Peter uncomfortably.

"We _don't_ care Wormtail!" said Sirius pointedly to Peter. He quieted down instantly.

"What did you guys do with Moony?" asked James.

"We led him back into the Shrieking Shack and closed off the tunnel behind us," said Peter.

"He was really bad today. Do you think something's going on?" asked James. Moony was usually more restless as a werewolf whenever he had something he was upset about in his normal life.

"I don't know. He doesn't really talk about things that bother him, does he?" asked Sirius. They were nearing the front doors of the castle now, and Sirius opened the door for James and Sirius.

"No," said James thoughtfully.

"So, do you think we should tell anyone about the group of people in the forest?" asked Peter after a long pause. They were walking as quietly as they could down the corridors now, hoping to not get caught by any of the teachers.

"We didn't really see much of what was going on. We don't really have anything to tell," said James.

"But with You-Know-Who out there, don't you think we should be careful?" asked Peter after another pause.

"Psh! I could take him!" said Sirius arrogantly.

"Sure you could, Pads," said Peter, rolling his eyes.

They were now standing in front of the doors to the hospital wing and they became silent. The door was locked, so they were forced to knock on the door and wait for Madame Pomphery to open it for them. She stood in the doorway and glared down at them. Her hair was sticking up all over and she had a robe on over her pajamas. James could just make out hearts and lips on her pajama bottoms and he almost began laughing.

"What are you doing here at this time of night?" she asked sharply. Sirius and Peter pushed James into the light of Madame Pomphery's wand and she gasped as soon as her eyes fell on his blood-soaked shirt.

"Um, my shoulder," began James.

"Come in, Mr. Potter. What happened?" she asked as she ushered him in and over to one of the beds closest to the door. She flicked on a light over the bed and cut his shirt with her wand and began examining the wound.

"Um, I was attacked," said James hesitantly.

"By what? Where?" asked Madame Pomphery, waving her wand by his wound.

"Um, I'm not sure what I was attacked by. There are all sorts of things in the forest," said James.

"The FOREST! And what were you doing in the forest in the middle of the night?" asked Madame Pomphery angrily. She stopped working on his shoulder and glared at him.

"I was," began James. He was trying to think quickly about what to say to Madame Pomphery, but his brain wouldn't come up with anything. She was staring at him expectantly. She probably wouldn't believe anything he said now that he had paused so long. But just as he was about to say the first thing that came to his mind, a piercing scream shattered the quiet of the Hospital Wing. It was coming from the opposite side of the room.

"Stay here, Mr. Potter," said Madame Pomphery, lighting her wand and striding across the hall. James didn't listen. He followed her to the curtain that was surrounding Lily's bed. Madame Pomphery pulled back the curtain and there was Lily, sitting up in bed, an alarmed look on her face.

James was so overcome with joy at seeing her awake that he bowled past Madame Pomphery. He ran to Lily and hugged her. She screamed again and James pulled back, staring into her terror-filled face. Tears were running down her face and he didn't understand what was happening.

"Lily, it's alright. Everything's fine. You're fine," said James, his voice bursting with happiness.

Lily screamed again and beat at his chest with her fist. He jumped back as her fist hit his shoulder.

"Why did you scream, Miss Evans?" asked Madame Pomphery in concern.

"Where am I? Who are you?" she asked backing into the bed as much as she could.

"Lily, it's me. James," said James, walking towards her slowly. She backed away with a terrified look on her face.

"I don't know you! Get away," she said.

"What's happened, Madame Pomphery?" asked James in horror. He stared at his Lily, who was trembling and clutching the blankets to her chest.

"It seems that she lost some of her memory, Mr. Potter. At least some of it. Maybe it would be best if you just went back across the room to a bed. I'll try to talk to her," said Madame Pomphery.

"But, Lily," said James, "you don't remember me?"

"No," she said, trembling from head to foot.

"Mr. Potter, please," said Madame Pomphery sharply.

"But maybe I can talk to her," said James.

"Go! Now!" Madame Pomphery shouted. Lily jumped at the loud voice and burst into tears.

"Alright," said James, and he walked numbly back across the room to sit on a bed, wondering if he would ever have his Lily back.

* * *

AN: Well, thanks for slogging through that really long chapter! I know, I was surprised when it turned out as long as it did, because originally I was struggling with only 7 pages written. As always, a review would be greatly appreciated! In fact, I finally realized what a jerk I've been and in the next week I fully intend to reply to all of the reviews. Sorry it's taken so long!

Anyway, I will try very hard to get the next chapter up next Wednesday! Good night and happy fanficing!

Love,

Littlemisskrissy


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Hey everyone! I'm finally back! Sorry about the long wait, my first week of classes was extremely busy! I wanted to say a big thank you to Tribot for her sweet message! You and the rest of the reviewers are what keep me writing and make me want to post quicker! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Although I feel slightly like J.K. because each chapter I write gets longer and longer, I am not her. Therefore, it must follow that I do not own Harry Potter or the wizarding world.

* * *

"You look awful, Prongs," said Sirius as James appeared at the breakfast table the following morning. His hair was unkempt, his robes were extremely wrinkled, and he had prominent, dark circles under his eyes.

"Sod off, Padfoot," growled James. Although his shoulder had been mostly healed - he had several scars running across his shoulder that he suspected would never fully go away - he had a pounding headache and he felt completely defeated.

"What happened last night after Madame Pomphery kicked us out?" asked Sirius as he shoved half of a slice of toast into his mouth.

"It took Lily a half-hour to calm down. But even in her sleep she cried out a lot. I didn't get much sleep," admitted James, ripping his toast into strips but not eating them. His stomach felt a little queasy.

"How much of her memory did she loose?" asked Peter excitedly.

"I don't know. I wasn't allowed to see her this morning. Madame Pomphery was afraid she'd freak out again," said James grumpily.

"You have to admit, Prongs. You are one scary-looking bloke," said Sirius, who had a glob of marmalade on his nose. James was going to tell him, but after that comment, he didn't bother.

"You're just jealous of my gorgeous body," said James with the shadow of a smirk on his face.

"Has anyone seen Moony this morning?" Peter asked over his bowl of cereal. He had his mouth lowered to the rim of the bowl and was slurping milk and cereal quickly. Even Sirius made a face of disgust.

"No, but he'll turn up soon enough. We've got Potions first thing this morning, and Remus won't want to be late," said Sirius with a groan.

"Ugh, why did I have to promise Dumbledore that I'd go to the rest of my classes this week? Maybe if I just sneak into the hospital wing again and try to talk to Lily," began James, but he didn't finish his sentence. He couldn't sneak in and watch over Lily today. If she saw him, she might start screaming again. That would definitely alert Madame Pomphery, and he'd be in trouble. Not to mention that he didn't want to frighten Lily.

"I'm sorry, Prongs," said Sirius quietly.

"Yeah, well, I guess it can't be avoided. Let's go to class," said James, swinging his bag up onto his shoulder.

James sat beside Sirius in the Potions classroom. They had reached an unspoken agreement that they were friends again, as long as neither one of them mentioned any of the issues that had caused their falling-out. Students were filing slowly into the classroom, but James wasn't watching them. He was trying to decide what he was going to do about Lily. He hoped that she wouldn't always scream whenever he came near her.

"Potter," said Hannah quietly, "have you seen Lily today?"

"No, Hannah. Is she alright?" asked James in concern. Slughorn hadn't arrived yet. If he hurried, he could sneak out of the class and ask Sirius to tell the professor he was feeling sick.

"She doesn't remember me," said Hannah miserably.

"Did she scream at you, too?" asked Peter excitedly.

"No, why would she scream?" asked Hannah in confusion.

"She screamed bloody murder when she set eyes on James," said Sirius with a smirk.

"What did Madame Pomphrey say?" asked James, ignoring Sirius.

"She said that she's not sure if Lily will get her memory back. The best way to trigger memories, though, is for us to spend time with her. We're to also help her get into her normal routine," said Hannah.

"So where is she now?" asked Sirius.

"She's still in the hospital wing. Madame Pomphery is keeping her there for the rest of the day, but tonight she'll be released," said Hannah.

"Maybe we should all go visit her at lunchtime. Maybe then she'll remember something," suggested James.

"Great. Er, is Remus here?" she asked suddenly, glancing around the classroom.

"No, haven't seen him yet. He probably slept in a bit," said Sirius off-handly.

"Alright, well, I'll see you at lunch," said Hannah distractedly. All lesson long, James kept seeing her look over at the door. Remus didn't show up, and James hoped that everything was alright.

Remus lay in his bed feeling completely exhausted. He knew that last night's full-moon transformation had been worse than normal. He felt it in the way his bones ached and his head pounded. He was always a lot more tired when he had a bad night. He hated the feeling of not knowing what he had done the night before, but he couldn't seem to pull himself out of bed to ask James, Peter, or Sirius.

For half of the morning he lay in his bed, thinking over a lot of things that he'd never been forced to think about before now. He thought about Hannah, and how much he wanted to see her and be there for her. He thought about her delicate, beautiful face, her trusting eyes, and her wide smile. He wondered how much she would trust him or smile at him if she found out what he was. If anything started between them, he would have to tell her. It wouldn't be fair for him to keep that kind of life-changing information from her.

As he usually did the day after a full moon, he wondered what his life would be like if he hadn't been bitten all those years ago. Would he be more like James and Sirius? Would he be a lot braver if he didn't know the horrors that creeped through the shadow of a dark night? Would he joke around more and be more carefree?

Even if something started with Hannah, even if she accepted him, wolf and all, he wouldn't be able to give her a normal life. Once a month they would be separated by the creature that lurked underneath his skin. And if she ever got too close to him on one of those nights, he wouldn't know her beyond his prey. He would hurt her, most likely kill her, and in the morning and for the rest of his life he would have to live with it. And what would be the point in dating Hannah if he knew they couldn't have a future together? It wouldn't be fair to him, and it wouldn't be fair to Hannah.

The terrifying future lay so close to him. As other students in his year talked about what exciting career they would have after Hogwarts, he wondered if he would be accepted at any job in the Wizarding world. He wondered if he would marry and have children. Dumbledore had always treated him as if there were no difference between him and his classmates, but he knew the rest of the world wasn't like that. The world outside of Hogwarts looked very bleak.

"Remus?" asked a quiet voice suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yes," he said cautiously, sitting up and pulling the curtains that were surrounding his bed back. "Oh, Hannah, what are you doing here?"

"Um, I just came to see if you were alright. I was worried about you when you didn't show up for Potions. Potter and Black said you would," said Hannah. Her cheeks turned pink and she looked down at her feet.

"Oh, um, I'm just really tired," said Remus, feeling his own cheeks turn red.

"Ok. Well, you get some sleep then," she said, inching backwards to the door.

"Wait, Hannah," said Remus.

"What?" she asked, turning back quickly.

"Um," said Remus, trying to get up the courage to ask her to go to Hogsmede with him on Saturday. "How's Lily?" he asked instead.

"Oh, Remus," said Hannah, sitting on the edge of Remus's bed and explaining the situation. Remus only spent a few seconds mentally kicking himself for his conflicting feelings before he focused on what she was saying and tried to comfort her as best he could.

Once again, when lunchtime came, James raced through the halls to the hospital wing. This time, however, he was surrounded by Sirius, Remus, Hannah, and to everyone's surprise, Carrie. Peter had declined joining them as he said that he was starving. James hadn't thought about anything but Lily all morning. This became obvious when he dropped his wand in his cauldron when he had meant to put his crushed beetles in. His wand had shot out of the cauldron and rammed itself into Snape's back. Snape had lost his balance, as he was already leaning his greasy nose over his cauldron, and had fallen into it. His face had been covered in Elixir of Euphoria, and he had been making strange giggling noises all morning.

Hannah entered the hospital wing first to prepare Lily for their arrival. She came back after a few short minutes and led them over to her bedside. Already some of the color had begun to return to Lily's face. She looked a lot healthier, and she was even smiling when they all congregated around her bed. The bruise on her cheek and forehead had faded a slight bit, but it still looked extremely painful.

"Hi, Lily," said everyone cheerfully. Lily was sitting up in bed, her hair neatly combed and hanging in loose waves. James couldn't help smiling broadly at her.

"Um, hi," she said uncertainly, nibbling at her bottom lip.

"How are you feeling?" asked Remus kindly.

"It's the strangest thing. For some reason I have a headache," she said. Although her tone sounded somewhat joking, it was a little flat. Everyone laughed, trying to make her feel better.

"So your memory's busted, huh?" asked Sirius. James turned to shoot him a glare.

"I guess so. I mean, I don't remember a whole lot," said Lily worriedly, staring down at her hands.

"That's ok, Lily. I'm sure you'll start remembering stuff soon," said James nervously. He was hesitant to draw attention to himself, because he wasn't sure how she would react. He didn't want her to start screaming again.

"Hey, it's you," she said suddenly, her gaze trained on James.

"D-Do you remember me?" asked James wondrously, beaming at her.

"Um, no. I mean, yes. From last night. You were the boy I," she said, pausing and frowning slightly, "screamed at."

"Er, yeah, that's me," he said dully. He felt a crushing sense of disappointment, but he tried his best to not let it show.

"I'm really sorry about that. I was just so scared. The last thing I remember is playing in the park with my sister and Sev," she said nervously.

"I can understand why you'd be scared then," said Sirius, shaking his head. "It would be a frightening memory for anyone to have."

"What do you mean?" asked Lily. Her brow was puckered in confusion as she peered at Sirius.

"Just that Snape's a greasy, big-nosed freak," said Sirius.

"He's my best friend! Don't say that about him!" said Lily angrily. James could see the familiar spark in her green eyes.

"Um, Lily. You aren't friends with him anymore," said Hannah quietly.

"Why not?" asked Lily. She looked shocked and upset.

"Maybe we should just introduce ourselves," suggested James. He didn't want to upset her. She'd been through enough lately, and she'd have plenty of time to hear all the unpleasant things that had happened.

"Alright," she said, but she seemed to be puzzling over something in her head.

"Hi, I'm Hannah. We've been best friends ever since we first came to Hogwarts. We sat next to each other at the Gryffindor table that first night." Hannah smiled encouragingly at Lily, but Lily frowned.

"Oh no! So I didn't make it in to Slytherin!" Lily said dejectedly. She looked so sad that James fought the urge to run over and throw his arms around her. He didn't even want to know how loudly she'd scream if he did that.

"Psh, you're lucky you didn't! Then you'd have to share a house and table with those losers," said Sirius.

"What do you mean, losers? I thought Slytherin was the best house at Hogwarts. All the best students are Slytherins," she said determinedly.

"No, Lily. All the best students are Gryffindors!" said Sirius.

"But Severus told me," began Lily.

"Well _Snivellus _is a," began Serious.

"Hi, I'm Remus. I'm in Gryffindor too. We do homework together sometimes," said Remus, stepping in front of Sirius and interrupting the argument.

"Hi," said Lily. "Do you tutor me? I'm sure I'm just a terrible witch."

"No, Lily. You're the smartest student in the school," said James proudly.

"Oh. You mean I was," she said sadly.

"It will come back. And in the mean time, I can help you if you want," offered James.

"Thanks," she said with a tight smile.

"Hi, I'm Sirius, and I'm the most devilishly handsome guy at Hogwarts. Girls drool at my feet, so don't feel bad if you get a sudden urge to drool," said Sirius, smiling at her.

"Pads, don't lie to the girl. It isn't fair to give her false information. She doesn't know that you're joking," said Remus.

"Hey, I'm _not_ joking!"protested Sirius.

"He's Sirius, and he's an irritating git most of the time. We only put up with him cause we feel sorry for him. No one else will take him," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" said Sirius in protest.

"Hi, I'm Carrie," said Carrie suddenly when she saw Lily looking at her. She paused for a moment.

"She's another one of your best friends. All three of us have been best friends since we got to Hogwarts," said Hannah quickly.

"I'm sorry I don't remember you both. I'm sure we were great friends," said Lily. Carrie looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment but then she grinned back at Lily.

"Yeah, we've had a lot of great moments," said Carrie.

"What's your name?" asked Lily after a pause. It took James a minute to realize she was looking at him. He was staring at Carrie and Hannah in disbelief. They couldn't just pretend the past few weeks hadn't happened. Lily deserved to know that she had been in an argument with Carrie for the entire school year so far.

"Oh, sorry. Er, hi, Lily. I'm James," said James, turning to focus on her.

"He's your boyfriend," said Sirius suddenly. James turned to Sirius and glared at him.

"Oh," said Lily. She looked slightly uncomfortable.

"We, we're not," said James.

"Come on, Prongs. She might feel awkward about it, but I'm sure she'd rather know the truth," said Sirius, staring at James with a pointed look. After years of friendship, James knew Sirius thought he was doing him a favor.

"I do want to know the truth, um, James. Are you my, er, my boyfriend?" asked Lily. She was biting her bottom lip again and not quite meeting his eyes.

James looked around at his friends. Remus looked thoughtful, Carrie looked angry, Hannah smiled at him and nodded her head, and Sirius was grinning at him stupidly. He knew that it wasn't right to lie to Lily. She had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth. But hadn't her accident happened because she wanted to be with him? Hannah had said that she was trying to make it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team so that she could win James over. So, if she was her normal self with her memory intact, he _would_ be her boyfriend soon anyway. Right?

"Yeah, I am. I just, I didn't want you to feel bad because you don't remember me," said James quietly. As soon as the words were out, he felt awful. But now that he had said it, he couldn't take it back. Lily didn't know him, and she wouldn't trust him if he took it back now. And then he told himself not to worry, that this was what he had been waiting for for years. He probably should just relax and enjoy it.

"I don't think that's," began Carrie angrily.

"Be sure to tell Lily all about the past few weeks of your friendship. She doesn't remember all the fun you've had together," said Sirius pointedly.

"Oh, um, maybe later. I don't want to overwhelm her," said Carrie, stepping back.

"So, Lily, how would you like to go to Quidditch tryouts tonight?" asked Hannah loudly, shooting a glare at Sirius when Lily wasn't looking.

"Quidditch?" asked Lily, perplexed.

"We have got _a_ _lot_ to tell you, Lily," said James, beaming down at Lily.

"James, can we talk for a minute?" asked Lily as Madame Pomphery began to shoo everyone out of the hospital wing so that they could grab some lunch before heading to their afternoon classes. She looked up nervously at James, not knowing how to handle this situation. Everything was so confusing. The fact that she had dated this guy that she didn't remember anything about unnerved her. It was hard to believe that she had six years worth of memories and experiences that were just erased.

"Sure, Lily," said James tenderly. He smiled down at her and she felt a thrill go through her. Sirius thumped him on the back and grinned cockily at him as he walked through the open curtains.

"Well, I just," began Lily shakily, "I wanted to say I'm sorry. I wish I didn't lose the memories of you. It must be really hard for you." She was playing with her hands out of embarrassment. She couldn't look at James.

"It's not your fault, Lily. And I'm fine. I'm just worried about you," said James his hand reaching out to grab hers, but he quickly jerked his hand back. Lily suddenly felt disappointed, which confused her. For the past half-hour as she watched James, she had felt things that she didn't understand. She had felt longing for him to come closer, to hold her hand. She had been unable to keep herself from breaking out into a beaming smile every time he smiled at her. It had gotten pretty hard to remember that there was anyone else in the room.

"The thing is, I don't know what to do about this," said Lily uncertainly. She glanced up at James and saw him looking at her intently, his gaze sweeping her face. She felt unnerved at the same time that she felt a flush of pleasure. She could see why she had gone out with him. He was handsome and he really seemed to care about her. But the problem was, he had all these memories of who she had been, of how they'd been together, and she knew nothing. She didn't know anything about him. She didn't know anything about the person she had been. Would James even like who she was now?

"I won't push anything, Lily. I promise that you can have your space, if that's what you need. I can back off," said James, struggling to smile at her.

"I don't want you to completely back off, James. I just, I want to get to know you, start from there. I don't know how I'll feel or what I'll think. I don't know the person I was. But I have a feeling that if I liked you before, well, I don't think that will all just go away, even if I don't remember," said Lily. She was back to chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. She didn't want to tell James about the confusing things she was feeling. She wanted time to sort it all out on her own.

"We can just be friends, Lily. I don't want you to feel obligated," said James. She paused a second, feeling conflicted. Part of her wanted to be more than friends. That part of her stared at his lips, begging them to come closer. But the other part was more cautious. She didn't know if she had been an impulsive person before she lost her memory, but the only important thing was that she wasn't feeling impulsive right now.

"I'd like that," said Lily, smiling up at James. James smiled back at her and she felt warmth travel the length of her body. She shivered uncontrollably.

"Great," said James, his gaze still trained on her. He seemed to be looking at her lips and she felt her cheeks warm when she noticed.

"I get out of the hospital wing tonight, maybe we could spend some time together, getting to know each other," suggested Lily to her sheets.

"That sounds….oh no! I have Quidditch tryouts tonight. Well, they're not important. I can just put Padfoot in charge," said James, biting his fingernail. Lily almost laughed at his expression. He looked like he was trying to smile, but he wasn't quite achieving it.

"No, it's ok James. You're the team captain, right? You have to be there. Anyway, Hannah mentioned something about watching them together. Maybe I'll go," said Lily.

"If you're sure. I mean, I'd rather just spend time with you, but I am the captain. And I wouldn't really trust Pads to pick out our team. He's, um, not very responsible. He'd probably pick any girl who agreed to snog him," he said, laughing and shaking his head. Lily joined in, although she wasn't entirely sure about Sirius. He didn't really make any sense to her. He had said James was her boyfriend, but she had caught him staring at her several times over the afternoon.

"Then you'd better go, James. And I would like to see you fly," she said. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wanted to kick herself. "I mean that I'm curious about Quidditch. I'd like to see how it's played."

"You'll love it when you see it, Lily. There's nothing like Quidditch," said James, grinning broadly. His whole face lit up with excitement, and Lily couldn't help chuckling quietly. He looked like a little boy just then, unable to contain his excitement.

"Mr. Potter, I thought I told you to go to lunch!" shouted Madame Pomphery as she appeared in the space between the two curtains.

"Right. Sorry. See you later, Lily," said James, grinning at Lily before walking out. Lily felt a huge goofy smile on her face. She didn't know much about James, but she knew that she was already over her head for him.

"Are you sure that you don't want to stay here overnight?" asked Madame Pomphery anxiously.

"I'm sure," said Lily for the tenth time, "Thank you for everything."

"Yes, of course, dear. Take care of yourself, alright? And if you feel the least bit sick, promise me you will come right back," said Madame Pomphery kindly.

"I promise," said Lily.

"Are you sure that you don't want to wait for one of your friends to come and collect you?" asked Madame Pomphery.

"I'm sure, Madame Pomphery. I want to take a shower, and then I'll go to dinner with my friends," said Lily.

"I could walk you down," offered Madame Pomphery.

"Thank you, but that's not necessary," said Lily. Without another word she turned on her heel and walked slowly out of the hospital wing door. She felt tired and weak, but she wasn't about to tell Madame Pomphery. She wanted to be out of the hospital wing. She wanted to watch James play Quidditch. And she wanted to start catching up on all the things she had forgotten.

Lily had only walked a short distance when her eyes fell on a familiar black-haired head. She couldn't help it. She smiled involuntarily, began walking closer, and threw her arms around him.

"Severus," she said gleefully, pulling the now grown boy tighter to her. He was now much taller. His black hair hung over his eyes, and his eyes were the same shocking blue that she had always known.

"What are you doing?" asked Snape in a panicked voice. He seemed to be struggling to push her away.

"I'm hugging my oldest friend," said Lily, pulling back to look into his face. His face was filled with confusion and conflict. She could still see the little boy that had been her childhood friend in his expression. His lips were turned up in a smile, but his eyes were cold. They darted back and forth up and down the halls, they stared at her pleadingly.

"We're, we're not," began Snape, pulling himself out of Lily's grasp, shaking her arms from around his waist.

"So it's true?" asked Lily with a frown, backing into the opposite wall of the corridor. She couldn't help the little trickle of a tear that rolled down her cheek. It burned her bruised cheek as it covered the tender surface.

"Merlin, Lily. Your face," said Snape, reaching a hand up to lightly trace the bruised side of her cheek.

"I know it looks awful. But that's not important now. I want to know why suddenly, after years of friendship, we aren't anymore," said Lily firmly. She stared up intently into Snape's impassive eyes.

"It wasn't sudden, Lily. It happened over time. You found your friends, and I found mine," said Snape simply, his hands balled into tight fists at his side. He turned away and stared at the wall behind him, tracing the cracks with his eyes.

"So you're just telling me that we just drifted apart?" asked Lily incomprehensibly. She remembered spending hours with him in the park. She remembered staring at his dark hair and listening to his incredible tales of the magical world as the pink shafts of sunset filtered through the trees. She remembered laughing so hard that she collapsed on the soft grass beneath them. From his tense posture and cold eyes, Lily knew that it had been a long time since he had laughed.

"It's not a simple thing, Lily. I know you don't remember, but we're very different now. We don't fit into the same world anymore," said Snape. And for the first time Lily saw a crack in his rigidity. His eyelids grew heavy and shadowed his brilliant blues.

"But why Severus? Why can't we be friends again?" asked Lily imploringly.

"Because, Lily," said Severus. He glanced down the corridor again and stiffened suddenly. Lily looked to see a large group of students travelling their way. "Because, you're a filthy mudblood, Lily. You don't deserve the magic that you have! Now go away," he growled.

"What are you talking about, Sev?" asked Lily, her brow creasing.

"You're a filthy disgrace of a witch, and once the wizarding world wakes up, your lot won't be able to plague Hogwarts anymore! Now get out of my sight!" roared Severus.

Suddenly, Lily's vision blurred and she saw images flooding through her mind. She remembered him calling her a mudblood in fifth year. She didn't remember anything else, she didn't remember why he had called her that, but she couldn't escape the memory of him shouting mudblood at her and their argument when he tried to apologize later. Lily stared up in horror at Snape for a second before she turned on her heel and sped off to the Head common room. As she walked quickly down the corridor, she felt tears brimming over onto her cheeks. She felt the fresh loss of her childhood friend. She hurried through the common room and threw herself onto her bed, pounding her pillow with her fists and sobbing.

"So, James is a," began Lily, watching him zooming around the Quidditch pitch before tryouts were to start. Lily, Hannah, Carrie, and Remus were sitting in the stands, staring out over the field below them and the forbidden forest in the distance.

"He's one of the chasers. He carries a ball called a Quaffle and tries to throw it into one of those hoops there," said Hannah, pointing to the tall hoops that were to their right.

"Is he any good?" asked Lily.

"Oh yeah. Gryffindor team hasn't lost a match since he joined in his second year. We just don't tell him how good he's already enough of an arrogant git," said Carrie. Lily caught Hannah shoot Carrie a look when she thought Lily wasn't watching.

"He's a great chaser, and a great captain. He's also extremely handsome in his uniform, huh Lily?" asked Hannah cheekily to Lily, who blushed a deep pink.

"Er, I guess he isn't bad to look at," Lily mumbled, looking away from her two friends.

Hannah had teased her constantly about James at dinner. She had apparently convinced James and the other boys he was friends with that Lily needed to spend dinner with just the girls to get reacquainted. James had begrudgingly agreed, but Lily kept catching him looking at her throughout the meal. He had appeared beside her when he had finished with dinner and had asked her to walk with him down to the pitch. She had nervously agreed, but then Carrie, Hannah, Sirius, and Remus had all joined them, so she didn't really get a chance to talk with him. He had smiled regretfully at her before he trudged off across the field to change into his Quidditch robes.

And now he was zooming in circles around the pitch, occasionally executing steep dives. She would always tense with fear before he pulled out of his dives seconds before hitting the ground. Then he would catch her watching him and would grin at her before zooming off again.

"He's showing off to impress you, Lily," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"How come you aren't on the team, Lupin?" asked Lily, trying to distract herself from staring at James.

"I'm rubbish at Quidditch. James always tried to teach me, but even he couldn't get me to fly a broom straight," said Remus, chuckling to himself.

"I bet I'm pretty bad at flying a broom myself," said Lily.

"No, actually, you were pretty good, before you got hit with a bluger," said Hannah. She looked at Lily with such a repentant expression on her face that Lily felt bad about bringing it up.

"That's how I got hurt, right?" asked Lily, trailing her finger beside her bruised cheek.

"Do you," began Hannah with a huge smile on her face.

"I don't remember. Madame Pomphery told me," said Lily, hating the slightly disappointed expression that covered Hannah's face for a second before she smiled again, a little forcefully.

"Right," said Hannah. "Well, you were practicing to be a beater when you got hit with a bluger."

"Was I on the Gryffindor team?" asked Lily curiously.

"No, but you were going to try out for it this year," said Remus, glancing briefly at Hannah.

"Why this year?" asked Lily curiously. There was a slight pause in which Lily saw Remus and Hannah look at each other.

"Well, you wanted to be on James's team. To spend more time with him," said Hannah. "Oh look, they're all arriving!" She pointed to a large mass of people entering the Quidditch pitch.

"So if I hadn't been hit, I would be down there right now," said Lily, looking down at the field and wondering if she would have made the team. She wondered what it felt like to zoom around the pitch above the tree line like James.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, Lily. You'll have plenty of time to spend with James. You guys are Head students together, and you share a common room and every class," rushed Hannah.

"Yeah," said Lily. But she wasn't worrying that she and James wouldn't get enough time to spend together. She was feeling a growing anxiety flooding through her because she didn't know who she had been. What if people expected her to be the same person she was before her accident? What if the person that she became didn't fit in with these people who had been her friends? What if James expected someone different? Someone who shared the same features, but whose interests and skills were far different?

"I'll be right back. I want to duck into the loo before everything starts," said Lily distractedly, rising from her seat.

"Well, we can come with you," said Carrie, rising quickly.

"No, I'll just be a minute," said Lily, walking down the steps and behind the pitch. Instead of walking toward the castle, though, she found her feet turning towards the lake. She sat down on the roots of a tree that was leaning over the water. Although the sky was darkening and she couldn't see much more than the patch of dark water lapping at the shore before her, she sat watching it, feeling completely lost.

"Want some company?" asked a voice from behind her. She turned and put her hand to her chest as the voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lily without turning around. She hunched her shoulders up and hugged her arms around her knees.

"I'm sorry, Lily. About earlier today. I just, my friends wouldn't understand. They might have tried to hurt you," said Snape, standing rigidly beside her and staring out at the dark expanse of water before both of them.

"And you wouldn't have stopped them," said Lily woodenly.

"No, Lily. I would have. I wouldn't have let them hurt you," said Snape with emotion ringing through his voice.

"But we can't be friends," said Lily, still not turning to face him.

"Well, maybe I was wrong earlier today. You know, we used to spend hours here together, talking and sailing leaves that we transfigured into boats through the water. I hid from the Slytherins here, and you hid with me. We could be friends like that again, Lily. Only we," he said.

"Wouldn't tell anyone," finished Lily.

"I knew you would understand. I've missed you, Lily. You don't know how long I've wanted to tell the Slytherins to stuff it and just go back to being friends with you." Lily saw him smiling in the beam of moonlight that streaked across the lake towards them.

"So why don't you?" asked Lily bitterly.

"I'm in too far now, Lily. I can't. I can't stop this," said Snape pleadingly.

"Well, I can't be friends with someone who's ashamed to be seen with me," said Lily stubbornly.

"Lily, you're just as stubborn as you've always been," said Snape in frustration.

"I guess so," said Lily, standing up and walking firmly back toward the pitch. As she walked, she was filled with anger, and suddenly, she knew that she hadn't lost herself, even if she had lost her memory. Now she had to just do everything she could to reconnect with the little bits that she had lost. And luckily for her, she had an idea just how to do that.

"Not that I don't appreciate your speech on the glory of playing for Gryffindor, mate, but could we get to the tryouts finally?" asked Sirius, rolling his eyes at James.

"Careful, Black, even if you played for the team last year, you aren't guaranteed a spot. I might just find a better seeker," said James.

"Psh! Yeah right, Prongs. Find a better seeker!" said Sirius, laughing arrogantly.

"Don't push it, Pads," said James before turning to speak to the students in front of him. He saw a straggler wander into the pitch and join the crowd before him. Before he could really see who it was so he could remember that they had been late, the person had mixed with the rest of the crowd. "Alright, you lot. I want you all to mount your broom and fly ten circles around the pitch. I'm going to split you into two groups at first. If you have a broom with you, stand in front of me. You will be in the first group. If you don't have a broom, go stand by Sirius. Sirius will hand out the school's brooms to those of you who don't have one, and then you will wait till the first group is done for your chance. Get going!"

Half of the crowd walked over to the changing rooms, while the other half walked toward James. James blew a whistle and the group in front of him rose into the air and began circling the pitch. James assessed their skills from the ground, noting several that seemed promising. There were also several that seemed to be wobbling through the air dangerously. The first group had gone several laps before James was distracted by loud arguing. He turned his head and saw that Sirius was arguing with someone who had their back to him near the changing rooms. He shook his head before rushing over to break up the fight.

"I am _not_ giving you a broom! You are _not_ trying out for the team!" shouted Sirius.

"Pads, what's going on here? Everyone is allowed to try out," said James as he arrived beside Sirius. He looked at the person who was being denied a broom and froze. Lily was standing in front of Sirius, holding her hand out for the broom that Sirius was holding just out of her reach. James's heart sped sickeningly. "Lily? What are you doing?"

"I'm trying out for the team, captain," said Lily with a smile at James.

"No you're bloody not," said James and Sirius at the same time.

"What happened to 'everyone is allowed to try out'?" asked Lily, raising her eyebrows at James.

"Lily, you just got hurt on a broom. You can't honestly think I'm going to let you get back on one now," said James seriously. He shuddered as he imagined her being pushed by some of the other people trying out as they raced around the pitch, her falling through the air and hitting the ground, her being knocked out by another bludger. He couldn't allow it.

"But isn't that what you're supposed to do? Get back in the saddle?" asked Lily with an innocent smile on her lips.

"What are you talking about?" asked James.

"Nevermind. I just, I want to be on the team," said Lily, staring up into James's eyes. James held himself rigid, because he knew the effect Lily had over him. He couldn't allow himself to be talked into letting her try out.

"Why? You haven't mentioned it before now," said James.

"I want to be on _your_ team James. I want to spend more time with you," said Lily sweetly, smiling up at James. James took a deep breath, telling himself not to be carried away by happiness that she wanted to spend time with him.

"Lily, I'll spend as much time with you as you want. You don't need to be on the team for that," said James tenderly, smiling back at Lily, "I'll even teach you how to fly a broom if you want, but I won't let you try out now," said James firmly.

"You won't let me?" asked Lily incredulously, placing her hands on her hips.

"Lily, I'm only doing this so you don't get hurt," said James.

"Fine," said Lily angrily. She stalked off across the lawn.

"Despite losing her memory, Lily hasn't really changed any, has she?" asked Sirius.

"No, Pads. She's still managed to find something to be mad at me about," said James with a sigh.

Lily fumed around the edge of the pitch, hiding behind one of the curtains that draped underneath the stands. She guessed that Severus was right; she was stubborn. All of her thoughts were focused on how she was going to still try out for the team, but she hadn't come up with a solution yet. How was she going to get a broom when Sirius was handing them out? She was about to give up when she noticed some silly-looking girls talking near her.

"I don't know Marlise, I haven't even ridden a broom before," said a petite blonde girl, quivering as she clutched a broom tightly in her hand.

"You'll be fine, Rachel. The whole point is to get James and Sirius's attention. We're not trying to actually get a spot on the team," said the other girl, who was wearing her brown hair in pigtail braids.

"But what if I fall?" asked Rachel in a worried voice.

"Then hopefully James is there to catch you," said Marlise, giggling uncontrollably.

"I don't want to do it," said Rachel nervously.

"Come on Rachel! You agreed to do it earlier, and I can't just do it by myself!" said Marlise.

"I'm sorry, Marlise, but I'm not doing it," said Rachel, making her way over to the changing rooms.

Lily looked for James quickly and saw that his back was to her. He was still watching the people flying above him, occasionally making notes on a clipboard. Lily charged out from behind the curtain and caught up to Rachel before she had made it more than a few steps away.

"Hey, if you're not using that broom, can I borrow it?" asked Lily quietly. Marlise and Rachel both turned around to look at Lily.

"Oh, hi Evans, your face looks just lovely today," said Marlise, giggling again.

"Hi," said Lily shortly to Marlise before turning back to Rachel.

"Sure," said Rachel, handing the broom to Lily before stalking off toward the exit.

"Wait, Rachel, at least let's watch from the stands," said Marlise, shooting Lily a dirty look before she stalked off towards Rachel.

Clutching the broom in her palm, Lily walked around the edge of the pitch to where the second group was gathered. She kept her eyes on James in case he looked towards her, but he kept his back to her the whole time. She worked her way into the center of the second group and relaxed slightly. Now that she had the broom in her hands she was feeling both triumphant and extremely nervous. What if she didn't remember how to fly?

The first group hit the ground, and James congratulated them and talked to a few of them briefly before he turned toward the second group. Lily made sure that she was standing behind a really tall boy so that James wouldn't see her.

"Alright, when I blow the whistle you can kick off. Fly ten laps around the pitch and then I'll make the first cuts. Good luck," said James.

The second group spread out and Lily mounted her broom, waiting for the whistle. She gripped the broomstick tightly in her hands, feeling adrenaline pumping through her. When the whistle sounded she took a deep breath and kicked off the ground as hard as she could, ignoring the nerves that told her to stay on the ground. She felt the wind rushing through her hair as she soared up into the dark night. She beamed as she straightened her broom and began flying around the pitch. The whole experience felt incredible to her, and she had to keep reminding herself to watch the people around her. She felt like closing her eyes and just focusing on feeling the wind, the gentle gliding of her broom beneath her, and the worn wood of the handle in her hands.

Suddenly she remembered practicing Quidditch in a big, cavernous room with Sirius. She remembered Hannah saying that she couldn't ride a broom, and funneling her anger into drowning out her nerves. She remembered soaring through the air for the first time to the cheers of her friends below. She remembered feeling like she could spend the rest of her life zooming around on a broomstick, and wanting desperately to show James.

Lily pulled herself back into the present and increased her speed, passing some of the slower, wobbly people and heading for the front of the group with the faster, more confident fliers. She circled ten times, racing the others at the front. When her tenth lap was finished, she felt extreme disappointment that she had to return to the ground. She wondered what James would say when he saw her touch down on the ground. He would probably be angry. She sighed as she gently pushed the handle of the broomstick down. She glided towards the ground and landed lightly on her feet.

James began walking through the people at the front of the group, complimenting their flying. He was a few persons away from Lily when his eyes looked on her. His expression grew murderous and he charged towards her. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her off to the side of the pitch, all the while his eyes stayed locked on hers.

"Lily Evans, I thought I told you not to try out for the team!" growled James.

"I know you did, James. And I'm sorry. But I really just needed to do it," said Lily. She looked up meekly at him. "I didn't get hurt."

"No, you didn't, thank Merlin. Do you even know how much I care for you, Lily?" asked James, his voice softening as he pulled her into a hug. "What I'd do if you got hurt again?"

"But I'm a good flyer, aren't I?" asked Lily excitedly. James pulled back and looked at her sternly for a second before he grinned.

"Yes, Lily. You're brilliant," said James, beaming proudly at her.

"Wait until you see my beater skills," said Lily, grinning back at him.

"Lily," said James, his grin fading into a frown. "You are definitely _not _trying out to be a beater. You had your fun and proved that you can fly, but I will not have you anywhere near a bludger as long as you live," said James firmly.

"Oh, come on, James! That's not fair and you know it," said Lily angrily.

"I don't care, Lily," said James defiantly.

"You know I'll just do it anyway like I flew when you didn't want me to," said Lily.

"No you won't. I'll put Sirius on guard duty until tryouts are over," said James.

"James, you're going to let me try out to be a beater!" said Lily stubbornly.

"No I'm not!" said James just as stubbornly.

"Yes you are, Mr. Potter," said a stern voice from behind them. Lily turned to see a thin, severe looking woman with graying brown hair pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Professor McGonagall, you can't let her try out! She was in the hospital wing only a few hours ago because she got hit by a bludger!" said James pleadingly.

"I understand your hesitance, but after all, we allow everyone to try out for our team. Now, if it will make you feel better, I'll keep an eye on things and I will stop anything that comes too close," said McGonagall.

"Professor," began James.

"I believe you have some positions that need filling, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall sternly. James walked away with an annoyed sigh.

"Thank you, Professor," said Lily, smiling at the woman beside her.

"You're welcome, Miss Evans. I have a feeling that you'll be just what the Gryffindor team needs. Merlin knows James at least needs someone to bring him back to earth when it comes to Quidditch," said McGonagall, smiling tightly at Lily before heading off to watch the Keeper tryouts.

James saved the beater tryouts for last. Lily had sat on the pitch for the rest of the tryouts and watched as Sirius reclaimed his position as seeker, a boy named Frank Longbottom became the new Keeper, and Alice Brown and Billy Perkins became the two other Chasers. James called all of the people who were trying out for the beater positions to come towards him. Lily saw that there were six other people trying out for the position, all of them boys. She saw them laugh as she joined them and she had to laugh when she stood next to them. They were all at least a head taller than her and about three times bigger than her.

"Alright, I'm going to pair you up, and in those pairs you are going to have a turn to show me what you can do. When you're in the air I'm going to release the bludgers. I'm going to make targets appear all over the field, five for each, and your goal will be to hit each target with the bludgers. This will show me that you have enough strength and precision to keep the bludgers away from our team. Are you ready? Who wants to be first?" asked James, glancing down the row of boys, but not looking at Lily, who was raising her hand.

"Alright, Jenkins and Smith, you can go first," said James. Lily couldn't help grinning when Jenkins missed three out of five targets, and Smith sent the bludger towards the ground several times.

"Alright, good try," called James as they touched down. "Next we'll have Logan and Waverly." Logan was even more hopeless than the previous two. He would fly up to hit the bludger, but he kept swinging his bat through the air and missing the bludger. After a few attempts he zoomed to the ground and threw his bat down as he stalked out of the pitch. Waverly was the best so far. He only missed two targets.

"Great job, Waverly," said James, "Next we'll have Reilly and Quinn." Reilly only missed one target and zoomed to the ground with a smile on his face. Quinn, on the other hand, had managed to hit his own shoulder when he swung the bat. He was clutching his shoulder with a wince as he touched down on the pitch and began walking to the hospital wing.

"Well, if that's all," began James.

"That's not all, James. I want to try out," said Lily, going to stand in front of him. The boys that were around James started laughing again.

"Well, we don't have anyone to pair up with you," said James dismissively.

"That's ok. Put up the same amount of targets and I'll hit every one of them," said Lily confidently.

"Lily, I will not let you," began James.

"Mr. Potter, should I take over for this tryout?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"No, Professor," grumbled James. "Alright get onto your broom and kick off. I'll release the bludgers when you're ready. And I'll put up all ten of the targets. Don't feel bad if you miss," said James.

"I'm not going to miss," said Lily.

She hoped that was true. She didn't know why she was so confident. She didn't remember practicing to be a beater. But after her success with flying, she figured that beating would come back to her just as naturally. She picked up one of the smallest beaters bats on the ground. She found that it felt a bit heavy, but she was sure she could manage it. She kicked off the ground, clutching the broom with one hand and the bat with the other. At first she felt a little unbalanced but she quickly got the hang of it. She stopped in midair and nodded at James, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

James leaned down and released the bludgers from the crate. She saw them zoom up through the air, and then she saw a target appear to her right beside the middle goal post. She zoomed towards one of the bludgers and gave it a hard smack. The bludger went streaking through the air and hit the first target. The second target appeared higher in the air, above one of the stands. Lily zoomed toward the second bludger and smacked it. It hit the target. After hitting three more targets perfectly, Lily was feeling even more incredible than when she had been flying.

The next target appeared in a tricky spot. It was down towards the ground, partially hidden by a wooden beam that was holding up the stands. The bludgers were both to the left of the beam, so that no direct shot would be able to hit the target. Lily zoomed off to the bludgers and hit one of them in a straight direction. When it had reached the right spot in her estimation, she sent the second bludger after it, only at a slight angle. The second bludger smacked against the first, and the second bludger was sent to the left, and hit the target. Cheers erupted from the stands and the pitch below. Lily grinned broadly before she rushed off to hit the next target.

Lily touched down to the sound of loud applause. She had hit every single target, just as she had predicted. She grinned at James, who looked quite angry as he glared up at her. Before she could reach him and ask him what he thought, a huge crowd had gathered around her, asking how she had done it, how long she had been practicing, and other things that she didn't hear.

"Miss Evans, I must say, I'm very pleased with your performance. With you on the team, there's no way we can lose," said McGonagall, grinning broadly.

"I haven't made my decision about who's on the team yet, Professor," said James irritably, pushing his way through the crowd.

"But I would think that Miss Evans definitely has a spot on the team after that tryout," said McGonagall.

"I'm not so sure, Professor. She hasn't been playing all that long. We don't know that she's going to be consistent," said James.

"Please, James, don't be mad at me," said Lily, standing in front of him.

"I'm not mad at you, Lily. And I'm not trying to hurt you or make you upset. I'm just trying to protect you," said James with a sigh.

"But I want to play, and I had a good tryout," said Lily.

"You had an excellent tryout, Lily. I was so impressed. You've got natural talent," said James, beaming down at her with pride.

"So what's the problem?" asked Lily.

"It's too dangerous, Lily. On an open field without any other players, it's fine. But with a field full of players and beaters from another team aiming at you, it's a lot different. And I won't be able to do my job as a chaser and watch out for you at the same time," said James emotionally.

"You don't have to watch out for me, James. I'll be fine," said Lily.

"You don't know that, Lily. You can't know that! And I can't go through this again! I can't watch you get hurt again and know that I could have stopped it. When I sat beside your bed, before you had woken up, I promised myself that if you did, I would do all I could to make sure you were always safe, always protected. I love you, Lily Evans, and I won't break that promise, I can't lose you again," said James as he staring deep into Lily's eyes.

"James," said Lily, grabbing his hand, "you can't shelter me from everything. For one thing, it will really annoy me. And for another, accidents happen all the time. What if I asked you to quit Quidditch because it was too dangerous? I love Quidditch, James. I love flying through the air on a broom. I love chasing a bludger. I love lining up a shot and smacking the bludgers. Please, can't you understand?" asked Lily, squeezing his hand.

"I seem to recall receiving a note by owl from the very frightened mother of a second year boy who got onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It took weeks for me to convince her to let her son play," said McGonagall with a small smile. "Now, I'm not going to tell you what to do, Mr. Potter. I know you are a very capable and _fair_ captain, so I'll leave the decision to you."

There were several minutes of silence that followed McGonagall's speech. Everyone was staring intently at James, waiting for his decision. He looked for a long time at Lily, not saying anything. She smiled at him, encouraging him, but he didn't smile back. The expression on his face was very serious.

"Alright, the new beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team will be Reilly and Evans," said James. A loud cheer went up, and Lily ran to James.

"Thank you, thank you James," said Lily, throwing herself at him. He stumbled backward a bit with the force but held her tightly.

"Remember what I said, Lily. Be careful. I couldn't take losing you again," whispered James in her ear.

"I'm not going anywhere, James. All I want is to be right here with you," she said, kissing him on the cheek before running off to celebrate with her other friends. The whole time, she kept her hand in James's, and although she couldn't remember the past six years of her life, she was sure that she hadn't ever had a happier moment.

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AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it was insanely long! I promise to try and keep the next couple of chapters much shorter! Speaking of the next few chapters, I might change the day that I post this story. Wednesdays seem a little too busy to post. I haven't decided on another day yet, so I'll think about it over the next week and let you know. Again, I will try to have the next chapter by Wednesday, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to. So, I promise I will at least have it up next Sunday. As always, feel free to review on your way out! Well, good morning, and happy fanficing!

Love,

Littlemisskrissy


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Wow, I'm SO SORRY that it's been so long! Apparently junior year in college is a lot like junior year in high school! I've been so busy with homework that I've barely had time to have a life. So, because it's been so long, I won't bother writing a whole lot here. I know you're anxious to get to the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have to bother with school and I'd have all the time in the world to write. *Sigh*. Maybe some day.

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Lily walked through the dark corridors of Hogwarts by herself late the next night, slightly unnerved by the shadows and narrow patches of moonlight that cast an eerie light on the suits of armor and portraits that lined the walls. James would have been furious with her if he knew she was by herself, but she hadn't intended to patrol alone. When McGonagall had reminded him of his detention at the breakfast table that morning, he had made Lily promise that she would find someone to go with her, and she had fully intended to keep her promise, but Carrie had detention that night as well, and Hannah had disappeared after dinner. From the looks that had been passing between Remus and Hannah at dinner, Lily suspected that she at least knew _who_ Hannah was spending time with, but she hadn't wanted to interrupt them.

So now Lily was walking silently through the deserted corridors, wondering what James was doing. There wasn't a lot to occupy her mind as she walked. She hadn't met anyone out of bed yet. She was extremely grateful that she hadn't met any snogging couples all night. Thinking about snogging got her thinking about James again, and she smiled to herself, remembering how James had looked the night before in his Quidditch robes, or even how he had looked in just a towel as he'd scampered across the common room with a deep blush on his sculpted cheeks. Lily blushed now, thinking about his wet, gorgeously muscled chest, his athletic, lean legs, and his damp hair that was curling slightly over his ears.

Lily sighed and descended the stairs toward the dungeons, her mind now on how James had smiled at her numerous times during their classes, reassuring her, or teaching her something that she didn't remember. She was pleased that the longer she spent in class, the more she remembered. So far all that she remembered was spells, potions, and bit of Wizarding history, but she was hopeful that soon she would start remembering things about her life, about her friends, and especially about her relationship with James.

Lily's foot was poised just above the stairs at the other end of the dungeons corridor when she heard a murmur of voices coming from an empty dungeon behind her. She paused for a moment, wondering if she should go investigate. The dungeon corridor, with its low lighting and deep shadows made her nervous. With a deep breath she calmed her frazzled nerves and walked back toward the dungeon. She stopped just outside the thick wooden door, waiting to hear something more.

"Silence. If anyone hears of our plan it will mean failure. And the Dark Lord does not look kindly on those who fail him," said an angry hiss, rising above the murmuring voices. A silence fell across the room, which lasted for several seconds. Lily wished that she could see what was happening, but the only glimpse in would be through the tiny crack in between the bottom of the door and the floor.

"We only wish to know more of the plan. If we are to risk our lives, we want to know when it will happen. We want to fight," said a familiar, deep voice. Lily froze and listened more intently, laying her ear against the side of the door.

"We cannot risk it, Severus. You will know when we need your services. That's what the marks are for," said the same hissing voice.

"I think we have proven trustworthy, Professor. We brought the Dark Lord the," began Severus after another short pause.

"Do not speak so carelessly of what you have done for the Dark Lord. Even now there could be members of the Order listening and Dumbledore is never far," said the hissing voice. The voice was not raised in anger, but there was a steely harshness to it that caused goose bumps to rise all along Lily's arms.

"If there are then let them stop being cowards and come out of hiding! We know exactly how to deal with them," said another harsh voice.

Lily felt shivers run through her body, and decided that she had better leave before the meeting ended. She would run to Dumbledore's office and tell him exactly what she had overheard. She crept as slowly as she could through the shadows of the corridor, trying to make as little noise as possible. So when she ran into a suit of armor that she had not seen in the darkness, she couldn't help gasping as the metal armor crashed to the floor with a deafening clang.

Lily paused in shock for a few seconds before she heard the door bang open behind her. She ran towards the stairs and had just made it to the bottom step when a hand reached out and grabbed her ankle. Knocked off balance, she fell towards the stairs and stuck her arm out to catch herself. She felt the bone in her left arm snap as she caught herself on one of the steps. She yelped and curled her arm into her chest while she kicked out behind herself with her foot and tried to scramble up the steps.

"Severus, don't let her go," said the hissing voice. Lily looked back and caught Severus's eye. He was still clutching her ankle and looking at her with horror in his eyes. He didn't move, he didn't blink, he just stared at her with the most heart-breaking expression that Lily had ever seen.

"Lily," said Severus, looking like a man on fire.

"Ah, we've caught a mudblood," said the harsh voice as a thick-set boy with blond hair strode toward them. The boy smiled and Lily felt her entire body go suddenly cold. "You know what to do Severus."

"No," said Severus with a shaking voice, but he was still clutching Lily's ankle tightly.

"Severus, are you going weak on us? The Dark Lord will be so disappointed when he hears," said the hissing voice. Lily tried to see who was talking, but the blond boy stepped right in front of her.

"Well, if you won't deal with her, step aside." His eyes were an unnaturally dark color. It was hard to distinguish the iris from the pupil. It was shocking with his pale skin and pale blond hair.

"No, Renwood. This is Severus's chance to decide what side he's on," said the man with the hissing voice. He glided towards them, his long black robes billowing out before him. His face was covered in a white mask. Only his eyes, which were an unnatural shade of red, were visable, and Lily shuddered as they glanced briefly at her before resting on Severus.

"We can't kill her, Sir. Dumbledore is already suspicious," said Severus quietly, looking just below the man's mask.

"Imagine how suspicious he will be when this girl starts telling him tales," said the man coldly. Lily felt another shudder run through her body as she heard his voice. She wanted desperately to break free of Severus's grasp and run for it, but she knew that she probably wouldn't get far. There were several students now gathered around them, watching the proceedings.

"We could modify her memory, Sir. Then no one would ever know, and we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves," said Severus in a calm voice, rising to his feet and grabbing Lily by the arm, tugging her up beside him.

"I'm curious that you aren't sickened by being so close to that disgraceful mudblood, Severus. Her tainted blood is calling out to me, begging to be spilled," said the man, advancing on Severus, his eyes flashing, "You needn't worry yourself too much about our secrecy, Severus, if that really is your fear. Because we won't draw attention to ourselves with her death. After all, when we're done with her, there won't be a body left to find." There was a wave of malicious chuckles from behind the man in the black robes. His mask was lit by the torch above the entrance to the stairway, his red eyes gleaming and reflecting the flickering fire.

"Severus is too weak. Let me do it," said Renwood, the sound of his footfalls on the cement floor echoing through the corridor. He gazed at Lily with such hatred that she stumbled in her attempt to step back. Severus reached out and grabbed the arm that she had been holding to her chest and she cried out in pain. He turned back to look at her with panic in his eyes.

"No, Renwood, you'll have plenty of opportunity to kill mudbloods once the Dark Lord takes his rightful place in the world. I'd like to see Severus do this," said the black-robed man with pleasure ringing through his voice. "You are going to do this Severus, or we will kill both of you. Don't waste your precious pure blood for a filthy mudblood."

"Waste my blood for this filthy mudblood?" asked Severus, laughing cruelly as he shoved Lily off of him. Stunned, Lily didn't have time to try to keep her balance. She crumpled onto the floor, banging her head on the stairs behind her. Her body ached and she stared up at Severus in horror. "I'm surprised that you fell for my little joke."

"Let's not waste any more time, Severus," said the man in the black robes. Severus turned around and stared to the right of Lily. Lily felt anger welling inside of her and it snapped her out of the panic that had left her paralyzed. She slowly reached for the wand that was sticking out of her right pocket.

"Right," said Severus, advancing on Lily. His eyes were steady and filled with hatred as he moved through the patches of light and shadow to her until he was standing just above her. "Sorry, Lily," he whispered quietly, his wand twitching slightly as he pointed it towards her. "Cruc-"

She jumped up suddenly, ignoring the protests of her aching body. She might not survive this, but she refused to be killed without fighting back. Without much thought she silently whipped her wand through the air and the ground shook violently beneath their feet. Several of the students pitched over, the suits of armor fell with a clatter to the floor, taking out several students like dominos as the fell, and the portraits fell off the walls and shattered on the cement. A torch fell from where it was held on the wall and landed on the black robes of the man with the hissing voice. He shrieked in a high-pitched voice and flailed around the hallway. Lily didn't stop to watch their shocked expressions. She turned on her heel and threw herself up the stairs two at a time.

Lily ran all the way to the seventh floor, feeling her head pounding with each step. She was almost to the entrance to the head common room when she ran into a solid figure that was walking towards her. She caught a flash of charred black material before she screamed and shoved off from the figure, running past the common room and trying to think of where she could hide. She needed to find somewhere that was populated.

"Mudblood, you can't win. I will find you, and I will tear you limb from limb. They'll find little pieces of your body scattered through the corridors," said the hissing voice.

Lily thought about circling back to the head common room, but she realized that it would take her too long to open the room and disappear inside. She couldn't go to Gryffindor tower. Unless she ran really fast, she would run into the same problem. And since it was after curfew, there wasn't really going to be any people in the library. Lily began to panic, realizing that she didn't have much hope. Why did everyone have to pick this night to follow curfew?

"Evans?" asked a voice curiously as she streaked past.

"Black?" she asked. She paused and turned on her heel, feeling her heart beat slow down at the sight of another person. They were in the corridor with the statue of the one-eyed witch. She peered behind herself and saw with relief that the corridor was empty.

"You're not going to give me a detention for being out after curfew, are you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Black, you've got to help me," said Lily as she gasped for breath and ignored his question. Now that she had stopped she felt paralyzed by fear again. She clutched tightly at his shoulder with her good arm and stared at him pleadingly.

"What's wrong?" he asked suddenly, his smirk melting into a frown.

"There's someone after me. I have to find somewhere to hide," said Lily frantically.

"Who's after you?" asked Sirius angrily. Lily felt him squeeze her arm. His eyes were filled with fire.

"Please, Black. I'll tell you when we're safe," said Lily in a strangled voice.

"Alright, come here," said Sirius. He shoved her behind himself and tapped the statue of the one-eyed witch with his wand, muttering something under his breath. The witch slid down into the floor and a narrow tunnel appeared where the statue had been.

"Hop in," he said, pointing to the hole in the floor.

"Where does this go?" began Lily, staring at the dark tunnel with trepidation.

"Does it matter right now?" he shot.

"No," said Lily, and she took a deep breath and jumped into the tunnel. She clenched her lips together so that she wouldn't scream as she plunged through the air. Her stomach was filled with butterflies and she stuck her good arm out to feel for the walls of the tunnel. After a few seconds, however, her body hit the stone floor of the tunnel, but instead of stopping, she continued to slide down the sloping stone floor. Then she hit a stone wall and stopped. Sirius appeared behind her a few seconds later.

"I take it you didn't see the ladder?" said Sirius. She could tell from his voice that he was smirking.

"The ladder?" asked Lily perplexed.

"Yeah," said Sirius.

"Well, you said hop in!" accused Lily.

"I'm flattered that you trust me enough to hurl yourself down a dark tunnel without any safety net," said Sirius, "but are you ok?"

"Not really, no," said Lily, who was slumped on the cold stone floor that she had landed on. Her arm, which was surely broken, throbbed painfully and she felt like she would start crying at any moment. She didn't want to start crying in front of Sirius. It would be incredibly embarrassing.

"What happened?" asked Sirius. Lily heard the scraping of pebbles against the stone floor as Sirius scooted closer to her. He lit his wand so that she could just barely make out his face and his worried eyes.

Lily told him about the meeting that she had overheard, the group of students and the man that was wearing a black robe and a mask, and how they had attacked her. As she relived the images she felt tears run down her cheeks. Sirius scooted even closer and put his arm around her shoulder. At first she wondered what he was doing. She thought about James and how he might not like them sitting so closely. But before she could pull back she felt Sirius run his callused thumb underneath her eyes, catching the tears that were falling.

"Lily," he said quietly, moving his hand to the back of her neck.

"Wh-" began Lily, but before she could get even a word out his lips came crashing down on hers. All of a sudden images came to her brain in flashes. She saw herself in a mirror, wearing a very skimpy blue dress. She saw a green bottle spinning around and around in front of her as she sat on the carpet of her common room. Sirius stood in front of her and he leaned in towards her with a look of mingled nervousness and excitement. She felt again the kiss that she had shared with him. It was a strong memory, especially when it mixed the kiss of the past with the kiss of the present. Lily opened her eyes and the images stopped. She shoved Sirius backward with a feeling of disgust.

"What the bloody hell are we doing?" asked Lily. He had fallen back onto his elbows but he hadn't moved. He stared at her with a look of complete horror in his eyes. Lily tried not to notice the hurt that was on his face, but his wand, which had fallen on the floor in the midst of their kiss, illuminated his face.

"I, I'm sorry, Evans," he said in a gruff voice, turning away from her.

"How long was this going on?" asked Lily emotionlessly.

"How long was what?" asked Sirius, swirling the dust on the floor with his fingers.

"How long were we sneaking around behind James' back?" she asked, hugging her knees to her chest. A million thoughts were zooming through her head, but mostly she just wished that she could have gone through the rest of her life without ever remembering this kiss. It made her feel dirty and disgusting, and it made her feel dirty.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius calmly, still swirling dust.

"I remember. We kissed before I had my accident," said Lily impatiently.

"How much do you remember?" asked Sirius. He whipped his head back towards Lily and was gazing at her with a blank expression.

"I remember wearing a skimpy dress and kissing you. Why?" asked Lily, not sure she wanted to know.

"Oh. Well, it only happened once. You were mad at James, you had a little bit too much firewhisky, you played a game of spin-the-bottle, and we kissed. That's all," said Sirius.

"Why was I mad at James?" asked Lily curiously, feeling slightly better that she wasn't as awful as she had originally thought. She hadn't been sneaking around kissing Sirius when James was her boyfriend. Although getting drunk and kissing James's best mate just because she was angry with him probably hadn't been the best decision.

"Oh, I don't know, Evans. It's hard to keep track of your arguments. You are both way too stubborn," said Sirius in an annoyed tone. He was lounging against the wall now, and he had a scowl on his face.

"So what do we do about this?" asked Lily quietly, not even wanting to think about what James would say if she told him.

"Well, we're not going to tell him, Evans. You don't remember when he caught us last time, but I do, and it's not something that I want to re-live," said Sirius, throwing pebbles across the floor.

"He saw us kiss?" asked Lily in horror.

"Yeah," said Sirius.

"I can't believe he doesn't hate me!" said Lily, remembering how kind he had been to her ever since she woke up.

"He's always been in love with you, Evans. He's not going to just let you go," said Sirius in an odd tone.

Lily tried to figure out what was in his tone that made it sound so strange, but before she had a chance, a muffled voice began speaking in their tunnel. Lily jumped but Sirius just calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mirror.

"Pads?" asked a voice. The voice echoed through the tunnel, and Lily was surprised that she recognized it. She would have gone to look at the mirror if she wasn't so wary of getting close to Sirius again.

"Hey, Prongs," said Sirius.

"Have you seen Lily? I've been trying to find her for the past half-hour," said James.

"She's right here," said Sirius, handing the mirror to Lily. She took the mirror curiously and looked into it, surprised to see James's face reflected in the mirror instead of her own.

"Lily? Where are you?" asked James, visibly calming as he smiled at her through the mirror.

"We're hiding in a tunnel. There was a statue and Sirius made it disappear and the tunnel appeared," said Lily.

"The statue of the one-eyed witch?" asked James. Lily glanced briefly up at Sirius, who merely nodded. He had extinguished his wand so his body was just barely visible to Lily.

"Yeah," said Lily.

"I'll be right there," James said. His face vanished from the mirror and Lily handed it back to Sirius wordlessly. They sat silently for a few minutes before Sirius stood up.

"I think I'm going to go," he said suddenly.

"But what about the man in the black robes?" asked Lily, who actually would rather if he wasn't there when James arrived, but she didn't want him to get hurt either.

"He's not after me. And if he wants a fight, I'm ready," said Sirius. Lily heard his shoes hitting the metal rungs of the ladder, and a small bit of light filtered into the tunnel as he opened the entrance. She could see his lithe figure disappearing through the hole in the ceiling. After a few minutes, a loud click sounded and Lily was plunged once again into darkness.

Once she was alone and in the darkness, she allowed her tears to fall. She felt the pure panic again, and wondered how long she would be hiding out here in this dark tunnel. She thought about Severus's hate-filled face and felt sickened. Someone had to warn Dumbledore, but she couldn't make herself go. She kept thinking about the man in the dark robes, about the hatred that wasn't concealed by his mask.

After only a few minutes, she heard a clicking sound and light once again filtered into the tunnel. She saw another figure descend the ladder, and she backed as noiselessly as she could into the deepest shadow in case it wasn't James. The entrance sealed again and the tunnel was pitch black. The little bit of light that had entered the tunnel made it so that her eyes had to adjust to the total darkness again.

"Lily?"asked James as he lit his wand and strode toward her.

"James?" asked Lily, wiping away the tears that were running down her face.

"Oh, Merlin, Lily. What happened?" asked James, crouching down beside her and pulling her into a tight hug.

For the second time Lily repeated what had happened in the dungeons, and how she had been chased through the corridors. She told James about running into Sirius and about them hiding in the tunnel. She didn't say anything about their kiss, even though she felt incredibly guilty. But really, she hadn't wanted him to kiss her. She only wanted James to kiss her.

"I just don't understand why they hate me so much, James. What did I do?" she asked, embarrassed that tears were still falling down her cheeks.

"Oh, Lily. You didn't do anything. I don't want you ever to think that this is your fault," said James tenderly, cupping her cheek in the palm of his hand, "Voldemort and his death eaters are miserable excuses for wizards."

"Voldemort? Death eaters?" asked Lily. The words sounded familiar to her, she even felt a shiver go through her at the words, but she couldn't remember what they meant.

"You don't remember, do you? And nobody's really wanted to explain it," said James regretfully. He stared at Lily for a second with sorrowful eyes before he began. "Our world is in a war right now, Lily. Voldemort and his death eaters want to take over the wizarding world. They want to make it so that muggle-borns, witches and wizards whose parents aren't wizards, can't learn magic. He wants to kill them all."

"So if he comes to power, then he's going to kill me?" asked Lily with tears in her eyes.

"I'll never let that happen, Lily. I'll always protect you, always keep you safe," James said, rubbing his thumb just under her chin.

"I feel safe with you," said Lily, staring up into his hazel eyes.

"I'm so glad you're ok, Lily. And I'm really sorry that I wasn't there. I should have made sure that you had someone to patrol with," said James apologetically.

"It's not your fault, James," said Lily soothingly. She reached out her left hand, forgetting that she had broken it, and winced in pain.

"Are you alright?" asked James anxiously.

"I think I broke my arm, when I fell on the stairs," said Lily dismissively.

"We have to get you to Madame Pomphery. She can fix that easily," said James. He pulled Lily to her feet and began to walk toward the ladder.

"Wait, James, what about the guy who was chasing me? I don't want to be wandering the castle with him still lurking in the corridors somewhere," said Lily in a panic.

"Oh Lily, all of the professors are awake and searching the castle. They've been looking for him for the past half-hour," said James tenderly.

"How did they know about him? I haven't talked to Dumbledore yet," said Lily.

"One of the house-elves, Winky, saw you running down the corridor and that man chasing you. She ran right to Dumbledore and told him," said James.

"Remind me to find Winky and thank her tomorrow," said Lily.

"Alright. Let's get out of here," said James, pulling Lily to her feet. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. Lily had a feeling that it would be a while before James let her go and she definitely didn't mind.

"I went to Dumbledore, Sir. I tolds him all that you asked me to," said Winky brightly, startling Severus who was hiding in a little nook behind a tapestry on the second floor.

"Thank you, Winky. Has he been found?" asked Severus.

"No, Sir. Theys all looking for him, but he hasn't been found," said Winky, her ears drooping as she pulled at her dishtowel.

"And Lily?" asked Severus anxiously. He had really wanted to ask about her first, but he had held himself back.

"I saws her going to the hospital wing, Sir. Mr. Potter was taking her," said Winky.

Severus frowned slightly for a second before shifting his face into a neutral expression. "Thank you, Winky," he said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. After tonight, there was no way that he could salvage his friendship with Lily. Once again, he saw the chasm that was opening between them, separating them. In his dreams he could pretend that it didn't exist, as a child, it had been easy for him to ignore, but now it was firmly set in place. It was unavoidable. He only allowed himself a moment of sorrow before he forced himself to go numb. And as he swept out of the nook to return to his fellow Slytherins, he told himself that she was better off without him.

* * *

AN: So, I'm sorry to say that I'm really not sure when I'll be able to post the next chapter. I have a major test this week that I should probably be studying for right now. Ooops! Anyway, I'm going to try to post the next chapter by next Sunday night, but I'm not going to make any promises. Feel free to click the button below and tell me what you thought of the chapter. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to them. Well, good night and happy fanficing!

Love,

Littlemisskrissy


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Well, I'm back. I am so so sorry that it's been so long since I've posted. I don't really have a good reason other than that I was really busy and really stuck. The good news is that I have the rest of the story planned out, so I shouldn't have any problems with getting stuck again! So since it's been so long, I'll keep this note short so that you can get to the story. If you forgot, as I did, what had happened in the story, I'll give a little synopsis. Lily had been chased by a man in a black cloak after she came upon a meeting of Hogwarts Death Eaters. She hid in a tunnel with Sirius and they kissed. Lily remembered kissing Sirius before, and she was upset. James came to comfort her.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have kept you waiting 6 months for this next chapter. Sorry again!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Lily was running down the corridor, blurring past burning torches set in the walls, portraits filled with snoozing witches and wizards, and suits of armor. She could just barely hear the sound of feet behind her over her straining heartbeat. Glancing behind herself briefly, she caught sight of a black cloak swishing around the corner, gaining on her. She turned back to look in front of her and speed up, feeling the strain in her muscles, the panic making rational thought impossible. The only word that repeated over and over again through her brain was RUN!

Lily was just about to turn a corner when she ran into a solid body. She looked up into the cold, red eyes of Renwood. She tried to jerk her body away before he could grab her, but she hesitated for a few seconds, and his hand clamped down on her arm. His grip was so tight it was cutting off the circulation to Lily's arm. She felt panic rising up her throat like bile. How was she going to get herself out of this situation?

"Oh Lily, "called a hissing voice behind her, close enough to tickle her neck. Goose bumps rose along her skin and she began shivering uncontrollably. Renwood turned her around, gripping both of her biceps firmly, and she saw the black-cloaked man standing in front of her, his eyes glinting sinisterly in the eye-holes of his mask.

"I'm so glad you could join us," he hissed, smiling evilly.

A scream ripped out of her mouth, and she heard it echo through the hallway. She prayed that someone would hear her, but she didn't have much hope.

"Now, mudblood, don't scream. We haven't even gotten to the good part yet," said the man in the black cloak, whipping out his wand. He turned it on her and smiled at her again before hissing, _"Crucio!"_

Lily felt her body spasm in pain. Renwood let go of her arms and she fell to the floor writhing on the cold stones. She screamed and screamed, watching the black cloak coming closer and closer to her.

"Hey! Stop it!" cried a masculine voice. Lily could hear footsteps hitting the stone floor and she looked up to see James charging towards them. He held his wand in front of himself as he ran, a fierce look on his face.

"I was only going to kill the mudblood, but I guess I could take care of a blood traitor first," called the hissing voice. He turned from Lily and faced James. Lily tried to scramble up and help James, but Renwood took the opportunity to kick Lily in the stomach. Lily screamed, feeling her ribs crack. In that instant after Lily screamed, James' eyes met Lily's eyes, but before he could even blink, the man in the cloak had whipped his wand through the air, screaming, "Avada Kadavra!"

The hallway erupted with green light, and Lily watched in horror as James crumpled to the ground. Lily screamed and tried to get up again, but the man in the black cloak had turned around already and was bearing down on her with his wand, an evil smile still etched on his face. Lily screamed and screamed.

"Lily! Lily!" said a voice, startling her. Her eyes popped open and she saw a dark figure standing before her bed. She backed up against her wall, clutching her pillow in front of her as she screamed. She tried desperately to remember where she had put her wand before bed.

"Lily, it's just me," said James in a worried voice. A shaft of moonlight moved over his face as he leaned over to peer into her eyes. Lily saw that his hazel eyes were filled with concern.

"Oh, James," said Lily, leaping up from her bed and throwing herself at his chest. He bobbed backward with the impact, but he put his arms around her and held her tightly. Lily felt his bare chest warm against her shivering body. She took deep breaths to calm her erratic heartbeat. She felt a flood of warmth travel through her body as she looked up at him. She instantly felt safe because he was there.

"I'm sorry Lily. I didn't mean to scare you," said James apologetically, pulling back slightly so that he could peer into her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," said Lily honestly, rubbing her bleary eyes with the tips of her fingers. She wished that James's presence could remove the images of her dream, the images of the past night, but they stayed with her.

"What happened?" asked James, placing his fingers under her chin and tilting her face upward. Lily could feel that her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and she closed them, trying to blink them away. She had cried enough the night before. She didn't want James to think she was weak.

"I had a dream that the man in the black cloak was chasing me," Lily mumbled, feeling embarrassed. She felt like a little kid, getting so worked up about a stupid dream.

"Oh, Lily," said James, pulling her tightly against him again. She felt his chest moving against hers as he breathed and she rested her head on his shoulder, pressing her fingertips into his back.

"He killed you, James," said Lily. She couldn't keep the image of James lying unresponsive in the corridor out of her head. It terrified her even more than the threats the man in the cloak had made.

"I'm right here, Lily, and I'm not going anywhere," said James, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling her down beside him. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him so that her head was resting against his shoulder.

"I know," said Lily, staring up into his warm hazel eyes. James' presence was the only thing that was keeping her from having a meltdown. As long as he was here with her, she knew he was safe.

"I wish I could make you feel safe again, Lily. I wish I could find that disgusting Death Eater and make him pay," said James through gritted teeth. Lily felt a thrill go through her as she saw his protective expression at the same time that she felt like rolling her eyes at him.

"You do make me feel safe, James. When you're near me I feel like nothing bad could ever happen to me," Lily said quietly as she gazed up into his eyes.

"That's because I would never let anything bad happen to you. I know you don't remember me, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, but I really care about you, Lily. I want to be near you as much as you'll let me," said James, a blush creeping over his cheeks as he spoke.

"There's so much I want to know about you, James. I wish I remembered everything about you, everything about our past. But I know without a doubt that I care about you. And I want to spend as much time with you as I can, too," said Lily, feeling how true the words were as they left her mouth.

James beamed at her and reached up, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Lily looked up at him, at the way the moonlight was falling over his bare chest, his hazel eyes, lightening them. For a minute she thought he was going to kiss her, but then he just rubbed along her jaw with his thumb before stepping back. She felt tingles travel all up and down her body and she felt her knees go weak. She stumbled a bit and James reached out a hand to steady her.

"You look really tired, Lily. You've had a really long day. Do you want me to go?" he asked quietly, gazing at her with concerned eyes.

"No!" said Lily suddenly, beginning to panic. As long as James was there, she wasn't afraid, but she had a feeling that as soon as he left the fear would descend upon her again. As soon as the protestation was out of her mouth, though, she felt her face get hot and knew that she was blushing deeply. "I mean, you don't have to go right away. I don't think I could sleep now anyway."

"Ok," said James with a bright smile at her. "So what do you want to do?"

"How about we just get to know each other a little better? I want to know everything about you," said Lily shyly.

"Careful, Lily, you might inflate my ego," said James with a smirk on his face.

"Just sit down and start talking," commanded Lily, rolling her eyes at him.

James sat awkwardly on the edge of Lily's bed and Lily sat beside him. They talked for a long time, and Lily didn't know how much time passed. They talked about everything at it was effortless. After a long time Lily started to feel her eyes drifting closed. She tried to fight against it and keep her eyes open, but she just couldn't do it.

"Lily, I'm going to go. I don't want to keep you awake any longer," said James quietly.

"No, don't go," mumbled Lily in a sleepy voice.

"But you can barely keep your eyes open. I'll see you in the morning," said James, pushing himself off the bed.

"Please, James. Could you stay here tonight?" asked Lily, a blush growing on her face. She probably wouldn't have asked if she was more awake, but her tired brain wasn't filtering what she was saying.

"Of course, Lily," said James in a smiley voice. James stroked Lily's hair and then kissed her forehead before saying, "Goodnight Lily. Sweet dreams."

Lily drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face as James' voice got softer and softer and finally she couldn't hear it at all.

* * *

"Lily!" said a cheerful voice from above her. Lily jolted awake and peered blearily up at Hannah, who was standing at the side of her bed closest to the door, a beaming smile on her face. Lily groaned and shoved her head into her pillow as the bright light flooding in through her window made her tired eyes water.

"Go away," she mumbled into the pillow as she curled her legs into her chest and breathed deeply.

"I told you that we should have waited another hour," said Carrie to Hannah.

"And I told you that we have to help her. This is important," said Hannah anxiously.

"I'm with Carrie on this one. I think we can wait a few hours to talk about the Death Eaters," said Lily with her eyes still closed, shuddering as she heard the hissing voice again.

"Death Eaters?" asked Hannah.

"You don't know?" asked Lily. She sat up and stared into her friends' curious expressions.

"Know what?" asked Carrie curiously.

"Sit down, it's a long story," said Lily, sighing.

Carrie walked around to the other side of the bed to sit beside Lily, but she paused halfway to the other side.

"Lily, do you know that Potter is sleeping in your room?" asked Carrie, raising an eyebrow at Lily. Lily turned over and was slightly surprised to see James sleeping on a mattress beside her bed. He was snoring lightly and was tangled in the sheets. His bare chest was visible in the light streaming in through the open window and Lily couldn't help smiling at the sight. It was much sexier in the daytime when she could see it. She wondered when he had conjured the mattress.

"Oh, um, yeah. I had a nightmare last night and he came to check on me," said Lily, her cheeks turning red, "he stayed over so that I wouldn't be afraid."

"Don't you think you would have felt safer if he shared your bed? I know I would," said Carrie, staring down at his muscular chest as if entranced.

"Excuse me!" said Lily, whipping her head around to glare at Carrie.

"What? I'm kidding. He may have brilliant muscles, but he's still an irritating git," said Carrie, rolling her eyes at Lily.

"Anyway, weren't you going to tell me something, Hannah?" asked Lily, turning to look at Hannah, her gaze lingering for a moment over James's gorgeous bare chest. She couldn't quite focus on Hannah for several seconds afterward.

"I was going to tell you about the Halloween party the Marauders usually throw and was going to ask if you wanted to go shopping in Hogsmede with us today. We usually go early so we can get good costumes," said Hannah, "but maybe you already have plans." Hannah glanced over at James and Lily blushed again.

"No, I don't have any plans," said Lily, wondering suddenly why James hadn't asked her to go to Hogsmede with him. She had heard that was where many of the students went on dates. "I'd love to go shopping with you. Let me just get ready."

"Great! We'll let you get ready and say goodbye to James," said Carrie with a wry smile on her face. "Meet us in the Great Hall for breakfast when you're ready."

"See you soon," said Hannah as she and Carrie left the room, chuckling slightly at Lily's embarrassed face.

Lily debated whether or not she should wake James before she took a shower, but he looked so peaceful and so deep in sleep that she didn't want to ruin it for him. She crept out of her room and took a quick shower. As soon as she got out of the shower she realized that she had forgotten to take clothes with her into the bathroom. She was tiptoeing back to her room when she heard the door of the common room burst open.

"James," Sirius bellowed from the common room. His eyes swept across the common room and he froze when he saw Lily standing near the bathroom door in nothing but a towel. Her cheeks reddened and Sirius looked quickly away.

"Is James up yet?" Sirius asked, still not looking at Lily.

"Er, no, do you want me to wake him up?" asked Lily, remembering the kiss she had shared with Sirius the night before and feeling really embarrassed. She had seen the look he had given her before he looked down.

"That's ok, it's a dangerous job, with loss of life or limb very possible," said Sirius, smiling awkwardly, turning to go to James's door.

"Oh, er, he's not in there," said Lily quietly to the carpet, wondering if the situation could get any more awkward.

"So where is he?" asked Sirius curiously. Lily flushed an even deeper crimson and dreaded explaining the whole situation.

"Lily?" asked James blearily as he rubbed his eyes and walked out of her bedroom. His hair was messier than normal, sticking up all over. "Oh, hey Padfoot."

"Hey Prongs," said Sirius with a curious expression on his face.

"Well, I'm going to go change," said Lily, unable to stand the tense atmosphere any longer. She walked quickly to her room, feeling that both guys were watching her as she walked across the common room. She shut the door behind her and collapsed on her bed for a minute, unable to decide if she found the situation more humorous or more mortifying.

* * *

"So who do you think the man in the cloak is?" asked Hannah suddenly from across the Gryffindor table. Lily had just told them in whispers about what had happened the previous night. Lily felt nervous as Hannah's voice broke through her thoughts even though there were only a few people in the Great Hall. She glanced around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear.

"I don't know, Hannah. I told you that I don't have a clue," said Lily in annoyance. It definitely wasn't the first time that she was asked that question. Sirius, James, and Dumbledore had all questioned her the night before, and now her friends wanted the answer to that question, and Lily wished that she knew, but the only thing that really stuck in her memory was his chilling, hissing voice.

"But the Slytherins called him Professor, right?" asked Hannah, peering up at the staff table where a few teachers were quietly eating with the _Daily Prophet_ spread out in front of them.

"Well, yeah. But I've only had two days of classes since I lost my memory, and I wasn't exactly paying special attention to the professors in case they turned out to be Death Eaters. But I think I would remember his voice," said Lily hopelessly. She really didn't want to think about any of this anymore. She didn't want to think about the war that was waging outside of the protection of the castle walls. She didn't want to realize just how much of an illusion her feeling of safety was.

"But he could have used a spell to alter his voice. He had to have known it was a risk to hold Death Eater meetings right under Dumbledore's nose. He wouldn't have wanted to be easily identified if he was caught," said Carrie suddenly, looking over her bowl of cereal at Lily and Hannah.

"It just gives me a chill to know that someone who's teaching us is so evil," said Hannah.

"So what are we going to do about it?" asked Carrie.

"Do? We're not doing anything. Don't you think Dumbledore will figure out who it is?" asked Hannah nervously.

"But what if he doesn't? Maybe Lily should investigate," said Carrie.

"No, she shouldn't, Carrie," Hannah said a bit louder, "that guy is dangerous! Lily shouldn't put herself in even more danger!"

"Can we talk about something else?" asked Lily impatiently. Horrible images from the dream she had had the night before rose to the surface of her mind and she didn't want to see them again. She shuddered as she saw James lying cold and dead on the floor and the man in black robes advancing on her.

"Of course, Lily. How about you tell us a bit more about what happened last night between you and a certain Marauder," said Hannah with a smirk.

"Ooh, finally we get to the good stuff," said Carrie, shoving her bowl aside. She stared intently at Lily, just as Hannah was staring at her.

"What? Nothing happened. Black just found us a hiding place and we talked a bit. That's all," said Lily, feeling her heartbeat accelerate. She forced herself to keep eye contact with both girls and to refrain from fidgeting. She would keep the secret that she had kissed Sirius until she died.

"Why are you talking about Black? We want to know about Potter! Don't think that you can worm your way out of telling us all the juicy details about what happened between you and Potter last night," said Hannah.

"Oh, you caught me," said Lily, feeling herself calm down. She realized there was no way that Carrie and Hannah could know anything about her and Sirius. "He told me that he'd always protect me and always keep me safe. Isn't that sweet?" asked Lily, who was reliving the moment. The feel of his calloused thumb along her jaw and the way he had looked at her with such sincerity and feeling when he had promised to always protect her.

"That is sweet, but we really want to know if he kissed you," said Carrie with a smirk on her face.

"No, he didn't kiss me," said Lily, who felt a little disappointed as she wondered why he hadn't.

"Oh," said Hannah, looking slightly disappointed. "Well, he's probably waiting for the Marauder's Halloween party."

"Oh, yeah, that would be romantic," said Carrie quickly, smiling encouragingly at Lily.

"Well, are we ready to go to Hogsmede for some shopping?" asked Hannah happily.

"Sure, let's go," said Lily, glad that there was a distraction from thinking about the fact that James hadn't kissed her yet.

"Merlin, I forgot my money!" said Carrie in exasperation as she searched through the pockets of her clothes.

"Well, we can go get it with you," said Hannah.

"No, I'll just go grab it and meet you in Hogsmede," said Carrie. "Don't find any cute costumes until I get there!"Carrie hurried up the stairs outside of the Great Hall, and Hannah and Carrie headed out of the massive doors onto the grounds of Hogwarts.

* * *

The leaves were swirling colorfully in the wind as Hannah and Lily walked to Hogsmede. There was a slightly chilly breeze and it brought bright pink spots onto each girl's cheek. Despite the chill, it was beautiful with the sun shining onto the lush green grass, and once Lily reached the little village of Hogsmede she was blown away by the sight of witches and wizards roaming up and down the street and at the quaint shops that they passed.

"So we should probably go into the costume shop first, before all the Hogwarts students get there and take all the good costumes. If I have to be a vampire again I'm going to stay in my room during all of Halloween night. It's really uncomfortable wanting to bite my friends all night long!" said Hannah, laughing, remembering the previous year when she had clamped down on the neck of the boy she was slow-dancing with. He still wouldn't look her directly in the eye whenever they passed each other in the hallway.

"Sure," said Lily, still busy watching the street in awe. Hannah grabbed her arm and tugged her towards Be Not Yourself, the costume shop, which was directly next to Honeydukes, a sweet shop by the looks of it.

The costume shop was already bustling with people when Hannah and Lily reached it. It was fairly small, and Hannah and Lily had to shove through the crowds just to enter the shop. Lily felt overwhelmed as she was surrounded by a ton of witches who were fighting over costumes and a few wizards who were looking harassed by the crowds. Lily looked at the couples with a frown on her face. Why hadn't James asked her to Hogsmede. He could have been there with her right now, laughing with her at some of the more ridiculous costumes. Lily shook her head and tried to relax. She was going to have a fun day with the girls and she was not going to think about James. Hannah and Lily walked around as much as they could, pointing out some of the stranger costumes to each other.

"Look, Lily, you could go as a bogey," said Hannah, pointing to a disgusting green colored costume.

"No thanks," said Lily, wrinkling her nose.

After several minutes of walking around and thinking about different costume possibilities, Lily spotted a section of muggle costumes. She saw a witch costume and laughed out loud at the pointy hat, green face paint, long nose, and mole that came with it. Lily showed it to Hannah, but Hannah just rolled her eyes, muttering about muggles being _so_ clever. Lily's eyes fell on a Snow White costume. It had a short yellow skirt, white knee-high socks with a red bow on each, a blue blouse with puffy red and white sleeves, and it came with a long, wavy black wig. Lily remembered dressing as Snow White when she was a little girl, and she wondered what her parents would say if she wore a costume like that.

Lily turned, glancing around the shop when a streak of sunlight hit a sparkly white costume that was hidden beneath the Snow White costume. Lily walked over to the wall of muggle costumes and pulled the costume out. She gasped when she set her eyes on the costume. It was gorgeous, with a gauzy white skirt, a corset top with shiny silvery piping, and the most gorgeous pair of wings that were iridescent, changing color as they moved in the light.

"Lily, what do you think of this basilisk costume?" asked Hannah with a raised eyebrow.

"I think the boys would be petrified just looking at you," said Carrie, laughing as she walked up to them.

"Funny," said Hannah, rolling her eyes.

"Did you find something, Lily?" asked Carrie, peering at the costume that was held in Lily's hands.

"I think so," said Lily with a smile on her face.

"Lily, that's gorgeous!" asked Carrie excitedly, dragging Lily to the fitting room.

Once Lily had the costume on, she immediately felt beautiful, but she also felt slightly uncomfortable. The skirt was shorter than anything she could remember wearing. The top was just cut low enough to get a glimpse of a bit of cleavage. She opened the fitting room door a crack so that only Hannah and Carrie could see her wearing it.

"Lily, you look amazing!" said Hannah, beaming happily at Lily.

"Wow, you have to get that!" said Carrie.

"I don't know, do you think it's too short?" asked Lily, fingering the gauzy skirt.

"I'm pretty sure James wouldn't think it's too short," said Carrie with a smirk on her face.

"It's not too short, Lily. You look amazing," said Hannah kindly. "But if you're uncomfortable in it you can keep looking."

Lily looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. Although she felt slightly uncomfortable, she did think she looked really good and she thought the dress and wings were absolutely gorgeous. She thought about James and wondered how he would react when he saw her wearing it. She imagined him beaming at her again.

"No, I think I've found my costume," said Lily.

* * *

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were wandering through the Halloween shop that had been created just for the month of October. They picked through the objects, searching for anything that could be scary. The Marauder's Halloween party was always known to make the girls scream, and that was their goal. Each year they tried to make it scarier and scarier, and this year would be the most over-the-top scary party they had done because it was their last year.

"Are you sure we should be throwing a Halloween party this year?" asked James as he walked by tons of massive spiders all kept in a cage.

"Why wouldn't we?" asked Sirius, looking like James had just sprouted another head. James looked to the side and saw that he had sprouted another head, a head that had flayed skin and blood all over it. He was walking by a charm fan that blew scary or creepy looking things onto whoever stood in front of it.

"Because, Pads, Lily was really freaked out last night. With the war going on I'm not sure that people want to be scared," said James, looking at rolls of spider webs, trying not to show how much he cared for Lily.

"But people need a night to let loose and forget about everything going on outside the castle, and our Halloween party is the perfect thing to get people to forget about Death Eaters and Voldemort for a night. Instead of being scared about things that are real and serious, they'll be scared about spiders falling from the ceiling and goblins jumping out at them," said Remus from behind James.

"People are afraid of Sirius," said James with a wry smile on his face.

"So Prongs, what were you doing in Evans' room this morning?" asked Sirius loudly with a smirk.

"So Padfoot, what were you doing talking to Evans while she was only wearing a towel this morning?" asked James with an edge to his voice.

"Relax, Prongs, it's not like Padfoot was kissing her," said Remus, laughing at James' ridiculous over-protection of Lily.

"Evans may drool at my feet and beg me to be with her, but I know she's yours, mate, so I'll let her down gently," said Sirius in his joking voice.

James paused for a second and then lunged for Sirius, knocking him to the ground in the middle of the shop. Peter and Remus just rolled their eyes, watching as James and Sirius wrestled on the floor, knocking down objects that were on tables around them. Witches and wizards were dodging around them, shooting them dirty looks.

"Come on, Pads, Prongs, stop wrestling and let's get the stuff for the party," said Remus in exasperation. James and Sirius wrestling might have been funny the first few times, but after seven years, it was getting pretty old.

The wrestling continued for a few more minutes as if Remus hadn't said anything. Finally Remus cast a shield charm in between them and they were flown apart and kept apart by an invisible barrier.

"Now let's go, I'm starting to get hungry," said Remus, stalking down the aisle and not bothering to see if the rest of the Marauders were following him.

* * *

After a half-hour Hannah had found a fairy costume that she liked, and Carrie had chosen the Snow White costume that Lily had rejected. Lily suspected that Carrie was more drawn to the tight skimpy outfit than the actual character, because Lily had to explain who the costume was and tell her the story. They purchased their costumes and walked to the Three Broomsticks for some lunch with their stomachs growling. Along the way to the pub they ran into the Marauders, who were coming out of a Halloween shop. They were each carrying a ton of packages and Lily figured that they were supplies for the Halloween party.

"Hi, Lily," said James, smiling at her around a big box that he was carrying.

"Hi, James," said Lily shyly, remembering the awkward morning they had, with James sleeping bare-chested on her floor and meeting James and Sirius in the common room with only a towel around her body.

"So did you sleep well last night?" James asked, walking beside her.

"Yeah, I didn't have any more bad dreams," said Lily, blushing slightly as she remembered dreaming about kissing James. And then she felt frustrated because she wondered why James hadn't kissed her yet.

"Oh, you know, Carrie, we should probably take our costumes back to the dorm so they don't get dirty," suggested Hannah.

"But I'm hungry," said Carrie.

"Come on," said Hannah. She took the costume in the garment bag from Lily and towed Carrie back up the street.

"You know, Sirius, Peter, we should take these packages back to the castle. We wouldn't want anyone to get a glimpse of what we have for the party," said Remus.

"Moony, I'm starving," whined Sirius.

"I'll buy you a butterbeer when we get back," said Remus pointedly.

"Fine," growled Sirius. He levitated the box and bags that James had been carrying and they followed him up the street.

"I think this was a set-up," said James, grinning down at her.

"I think you're right," said Lily, glad that she got the chance to be alone with James. Maybe she would finally get that kiss she had been dying for.

"I don't mind, though," said James. "Come on, I'll buy you some lunch." James grabbed Lily's hand and towed her to the Three Broomsticks where they sat at a small table in the back corner of the restaurant.

"Lily, are you still afraid?" asked James after a few minutes of small talk.

Lily sighed and looked down at the table and traced her finger over the table. "I'm not afraid when I'm with you, but when I'm alone," she trailed off, looking up into his hazel eyes.

"I got you a present, to help with that," said James, pulling a brown paper bag out of his pocket. It was the size of an envelope, and Lily turned it over wondering what it was. "Open it."

Lily peeled back the paper and saw that she was holding a mirror like the one Sirius had pulled out of his pocket the night before. She looked up at James with a beaming smile on her face.

"Now whenever you're afraid, you can call my name into the mirror and I'll come find you," said James, smiling down at her.

"Thank you James," said Lily quietly, feeling her eyes stuck in James' eyes. They were going to kiss now. She could feel it. They were leaning closer and closer together, their eyes drifting closed.

Their lips were just about to touch when screams and flashes of light erupted from the main street. Lily and James jumped apart and turned to the main street to see complete chaos where it had been a normal day just a few minutes before. One of the walls of the costume shop where Lily had been a few hours ago was blasted off, costumes littering the street, scared and injured people screaming, and black-cloaked people were laughing. Above the rest, Lily could hear the hissing voice of the man in the black cloak.

* * *

AN: So I hope you enjoyed that chapter and I hope that you stick with my story. I promise that there will be more pranks, more fluff, and more drama, more adventure, and more excitement! I also promise that I will update at least every two weeks. So don't give up on me yet.

Thanks for being awesome fanficers.

Love,

Littlemisskrissy


	14. Chapter 14

AN: So I was all set to get this in on time, before two weeks were up, but I had some technical issues with the website! I'm sorry and I promise that I am committed to finishing this story. I'll keep this short so you can get to the story. See you at the end!

I don't own Harry Potter, if I did, I wouldn't have eaten a peanut butter sandwich for dinner for the fourth night in a row tonight.

* * *

"Oh, Lupin, hi," said Hannah with a cheery smile on her face. Carrie raced back over to Hogsmede as soon as she hung up her costume, but Hannah decided to take a short nap before going back. She still felt slightly sick, with a queasy stomach and a bit of a headache, but she decided a nice day out in the sunshine would make her feel better than holing herself up in her bed. She had just exited onto the grounds of Hogwarts when she saw Remus a little ahead of her.

"Oh, Matthews, good to see you," said Remus, turning around towards her but not looking directly at her.

"I haven't really seen you in a while. How is everything going?" asked Hannah. She kept glancing over at Remus and frowned when she saw him looking at everything else but her. They hadn't really talked since before Lily woke up, and she could feel awkward tension in the air between them. Last night Hannah tried to spend time with Remus, but he ran off after dinner, and although Hannah went after him to try to find him, she couldn't find him anywhere.

"Good, really good," he said, looking in the opposite direction of Hannah, pretending to be interested in watching the leaves blowing across the lawn.

"So are you going into Hogsmede?" asked Hannah, wondering why Remus was acting so strange. Had she done anything to make him mad?

"Yeah, I'm meeting Peter and Sirius for some lunch," said Remus quietly.

"Oh, I'm meeting Carrie for lunch," Hannah offered.

An awkward pause settling between them, and Hannah tried to ignore it and wait for Remus to say something, but he didn't. He just kept walking along in silence, looking anywhere but at her. Hannah was normally a calm, rational person. She was used to quiet, and actually preferred it sometimes, but after a few minutes, she couldn't stand the silence anymore. It wasn't just the fact that there was silence; it was the fact that the silence was so strained and tense.

"Is something wrong, Lupin?" asked Hannah suddenly.

"Wh-what?" asked Remus nervously, looking just above Hannah's eyes.

"I thought we were becoming friends, Lupin," said Hannah, unable to say what she really thought, which was that she thought he liked her and they were going to get together, "and now it doesn't seem like you want to talk to me."

"It's not that I don't want to talk to you. I think you're really nice, Matthews, I just," said Remus, faltering in the middle of his sentence, not really sure what he meant to say. He didn't want to send her away; he didn't want to stop being friends with her. He didn't want to stop whatever was happening between them, but he needed to, it wasn't right. He couldn't do this to her, to become closer and closer to her all the time knowing that she wouldn't want to be friends with him if she really knew him. If she knew what he became once a month, she would run in terror.

"You don't have to say anything more, Lupin. I, I have to go. I forgot that I need to go back to the costume shop to get some things for my costume. See you later," said Hannah quickly, rushing down the street toward the costume shop before Remus could see her miserable expression, or the tiny tears that were spilling down her cheeks.

Remus sighed in frustration and watched Hannah walk away from him for a minute. He hated to see her go, hated that he had hurt her, but there really wasn't anything he could do. She would hate him if something started between them and then she found out. Hannah would find someone else, someone who could give her what he couldn't.

* * *

James was up a second after the chaos erupted and, before Lily could even process what was happening, he was running down the street toward the action. Lily stood where she was, feeling rooted to the spot. She watched as James got closer and closer to the smoldering costume shop, the screaming and wailing people who were searching for their loved ones, and the black-cloaked figures who were shooting curses at inconsolable witches and wizards who were standing over the injured. Lily felt trapped in the misery, the terror, and the panic, unable to think clearly. And then she saw a black-cloaked figure shoot a curse at James, who was just on the outskirts of the chaos.

Lily charged up the lane after James, only stopping to pull her wand out of the pocket of her jeans. James was now dueling the figure in the black cloak, and Lily felt her heart pound with each curse that she saw James dodge. She ran with all she had, and yelled "Stupefy!" The person James had been dueling fell over, and James turned around briefly to see who had done it. When he saw Lily, his smile faltered. He grabbed her wrist and started to tug her away from the chaos.

"Lily, what are you doing?" he asked angrily.

"If you didn't notice, I was helping you!" said Lily indignantly, pointing down at the stupefied Death Eater.

"Do you not realize how dangerous this is? This isn't practice Lily! This isn't school! If you hesitate for a second, you won't get a bad grade, you'll," James said, stopping when he realized he couldn't get the rest of the words out. He didn't want to even think about Lily getting hurt, or worse.

"I know that, James. I know what could happen to me. But something could happen to you, too. Why is it ok for you to fight, but not ok for me to fight?" asked Lily, putting her hands on her hips.

"Because, Lily, you're just getting your memory back. You don't remember all the magic that you've done before now. What if you can't remember a spell and it makes you hesitate?"

"James!" Lily yelled, seeing a Death Eater who was striding towards James' back.

"I know you're angry with me, Lily, but I will not," said James.

"No, James, behind you!" Lily said, pushing James out of the way and shooting a jelly-legs jinx at the Death Eater. The hex missed the Death Eater narrowly. Lily dodged a curse the Death Eater shot back at her and was about to try to stupefy the Death Eater when his wand whipped silently through the air and Lily was thrown backwards. She crashed into a wooden bench and bounced off, landing on the road. She winced as she slowly sat up and looked over at the Death Eater just in time to see James sink a fist into his mask.

Lily stupefied the Death Eater as she walked back over to James. She put a hand on his shoulder and James looked right up at her, his face contorted in an expression of rage. It terrified her for a second, but then James stood up and his face lost some of his anger.

"Come with me," said James, an edge of anger still in his voice. He grabbed Lily's wrist and dragged her down the edges of the street, away from the fighting. The only sounds came from the battle that was getting farther and farther away as James continued at a quick pace.

"Where are we going?" asked Lily.

"You are going back to the castle and I'm going to make sure you go," said James, tugging her towards the entrance to Honeydukes. The shop was empty, but James didn't even seem to take in their surroundings, he just walked quickly through the shop and pulled Lily through a door at the back of the shop.

"Wait a minute, James, I do not agree to this," said Lily, pulling her arm out of James' grip and glaring at him.

"Lily, you need to get out of here right now," James said through gritted teeth.

"I am not leaving here unless you leave with me," said Lily just as firmly.

"I'm not leaving yet, Lily, I've got to help. But you need to go back to the castle right now, Lily. This is not a discussion. I am telling you that you _are_ going to leave right now." James grabbed Lily's wrist again and dragged her into the next room. He bent down and pulled up a trap door.

"You're telling me what to do! You can't tell me what to do, James! In case you haven't noticed, I'm seventeen, and that means that _no one_ can tell me what to do!" Lily said angrily.

"Lily, please," James begged quietly, the fight gone out of him. James knew that arguing wouldn't work with Lily. She was far too stubborn to listen to him if he argued. He thought about her sailing through the air and crashing into the bench, wincing in pain as she got up. His anger melted and all he felt was terror that something might happen to Lily if she didn't leave. James looked her straight in the eye. His eyes were so filled with love and compassion that Lily had to look away. "I thought I lost you once, and I couldn't go through that again. Do you know that I couldn't live without you, Lily? Do you even know how much I love you, how much I've always loved you?"

"But I can't just leave you here, James. What if something bad happens to you? Don't you know how much I'd worry if I left, how much I need you, how I couldn't face a world without you in it?" asked Lily, with tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Lily, just knowing that you're safe will keep me safe. I will come back for you. I'll meet you in our head common room after this is over, I promise," said James.

"You promise me you'll be ok?" asked Lily, staring up into his hazel eyes.

"I promise, Lily. Nothing could ever keep us apart," said James with a small smile.

"Ok, James. Be safe, come back," said Lily, feeling her eyes sting and a lump grow in her throat.

"I will, don't worry," said James. He covered the short distance between them and pulled Lily tight to his chest, rubbing her back in circles. Lily squeezed him tight as if she could keep him with her if she only was closer to him. James moved his head back and looked into Lily's eyes. Lily took a breath and moved her lips towards his, realizing just how much she felt for this brave, over-protective boy who believed in fighting to save people and free the world of evil. Maybe this was love, this feeling that was tingling in her stomach as she looked in his eyes, or when she watched him walk towards her, or when she saw him fly through the air on his broom, even when he smirked at her.

Their lips touched and the room disappeared, the dust was gone, the boxes of sweets around them, the trapdoor, and the dark abyss below all faded away. There was no Hogwarts, no battle raging in Hogsmede, no Death Eaters, no Voldemort. There were only two young people who were kissing, who were feeling their love growing. Lily felt every last bit of doubt that she was in love with James disappear from her body as his lips moved on hers. She felt herself let go of all control, of everything that had kept her from showing James how she was feeling. James pulled her tighter to him and she felt his hands trailing through her hair.

James pulled back too soon and Lily sighed, wishing that reality wouldn't creep in and interrupt their time together. She looked at James and was glad to see his face glowing with happiness. Lily knew her face held the same look, and she felt like her lips would never stop smiling.

"Follow the path to the stairs that lead up to the statue of the one-eyed witch. I'll see you soon, Lily," said James, tracing her jaw with his thumb before he turned back to the storeroom.

* * *

James walked to the front of Honeydukes in a daze, reliving his kiss with Lily. He hadn't wanted to leave her, he had wanted to stay with her, to kiss her more, to spend the rest of the evening with her until she made him leave her side, but he knew what he had to do. Ever since the war started, James had been raring to get into the fight, to show those Death Eaters that they were worthless scum and to make them pay for their attacks on muggles and muggle-borns.

James had never realized just how much the war cost until now. It wasn't just leaving Lily for an evening. It was watching the love of his life battle Death Eaters, terrified that the next curse that was shot at her would hit. It was battling alongside his best mates, knowing very well that some of them wouldn't still be standing after the fight was over. It was watching men and women bend over the lifeless bodies of their loved ones. James chuckled humorlessly to himself, realizing that he had finally grown up. He wasn't the immature fifth-year who roamed the halls of Hogwarts looking for a fight with the Slytherins. He walked to his battle feeling the weight of what freedom, what love, what doing the right thing cost.

When James emerged from Honeydukes, he was surprised to see that many Order members had apparated into Hogsmede. They were dueling with the Death Eaters, trading flashes of light. James scanned the crowd and saw Sirius dueling a couple of Death Eaters. James ran up to him and jumped into the fight. James cast the Petrificus Totalus spell and the Death Eater ducked to miss it. James ducked a spell.

"Nice of you to join us, Prongs," said Sirius, who was dueling the other black-cloaked Death Eater. Sirius was dancing around the curses the Death Eater was sending his way, his face in a characteristic smirk.

"Well, my schedule was a little light today, so I decided I could fit a little dueling in," said James, smirking back and shooting a curse at the Death Eater he was dueling. The jelly-legs jinx hit dead on and the Death Eater flopped to the ground.

"Light schedule, Prongs? I'm so sorry. But I guess not everyone can be as likeable as I am," said Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows at James before dodging another curse.

James snorted.

"Alright Mr. Likeable, why don't you stop prancing around and just finish off the miserable Death Eater. Look at him, he's exhausted!" said James.

"Prongs, Prongs, do you even remember how to have fun anymore?" asked Sirius, shaking his head in pity.

"Do I remember how to have fun?" asked James, scoffing at Sirius. He whipped his wand through the air and a huge cream pie appeared right in front of the Death Eater and smacked him in the face. The Death Eater was knocked over.

"Nice one, James," said Sirius, stupefying the Death Eater before he could push the giant cream pie off of himself.

"So where are Moony and Wormtail?" asked James.

"Moony ran towards the costume shop as soon as we saw it explode, and Wormtail transformed and escaped," said Sirius, rolling his eyes at Peter's lack of bravery.

"Why did Moony go to the costume shop?" asked James.

"I don't know, Prongs, but he looked really freaked out," said Sirius, remembering Remus' terror-filled expression and his mad dash out of the Three Broomsticks. He had nearly knocked their table over in his haste to get out.

"Maybe we should go find him," James suggested, a sense of foreboding filling his stomach.

They walked off toward the costume shop, feeling a sense of dread.

* * *

Lily lit her wand and began walking down the dusty tunnel. The darkness unnerved her, but the longer she walked, the safer she felt. She knew that with each footstep she was getting closer and closer to Hogwarts, and Hogwarts meant safety. She touched her lips and wished that James was with her, following her to safety. Every time she thought about him dueling Death Eaters she felt the air go out of her lungs, so she tried to focus on reliving their kiss.

After several minutes of walking, Lily heard a pebble skid across the floor behind her. She jumped and whirled around, feeling her heart pounding. She backed against the wall and pointed her wand slowly around her, following the light with her eyes. She stayed completely still and strained her ears to hear anything. After a few minutes she took a deep breath and realized it had probably just been a rat or maybe she had kicked the rock herself and was just feeling jumpy.

Lily kept walking, but she clutched her wand tighter in her hand and kept her mind clear of any distractions. So when she heard another pebble skid across the ground she jumped again and nearly snapped her wand in two. She whirled around and backed up against the wall again. She searched around herself again, but she didn't see anyone or anything that could have made the noise. She took another deep breath and began walking faster. As soon as she got back to the castle she would feel a lot better, a lot safer. The castle couldn't be too far away now.

After another several minutes Lily heard footsteps behind her. Her blood ran cold and she froze for a second. She backed toward the wall again, but before she reached the wall her body hit another body. Arms reached out and grabbed her, and before she could gather her breath to scream, a hand clamped down over her mouth.

"Well, well, Lily Evans, you eluded me for a night, but now you have returned," said the hissing voice in Lily's ear. Lily shuddered, feeling his breath on her neck.

Lily struggled against the arms holding her. She flailed her arms and legs, but the man in the black cloak was too strong.

"Now, now, mudblood, you can give up your struggle. I can promise you that I will not let you escape again," the man hissed. Lily felt cold terror sweeping up and down her body. Her hands were cold and clammy, and her wand slipped right out of her grip. Lily waited for a second, scared that the man had seen her wand fall.

"You see, mudblood, for years I've waited to put you in your place. I've watched you excel with stolen magic for years, filthy mudblood, and now I finally get to punish you for it," hissed the man angrily as he pushed Lily to the floor. Lily blinked the dust out of her eyes but stayed where she was, feeling the pain rippling from her elbows and knees. She could see her wand lying just in front of the hem of the black cloak, but she didn't dare reach her hand out and draw attention to it.

"Now, don't you worry, I am going to take my time with you. I don't believe in showing mercy to disgusting mudbloods," said the man.

"We're not far from Hogwarts. Dumbledore will come and when he does you are going to be sent to Azkaban," said Lily angrily.

"Dumbledore. Oh, Dumbledore. Come out and save your precious mudblood," said the man, looking around the cave in mockery, sneering all the while. Lily took the opportunity to grab her wand and stuff it underneath her before the man's eyes fell back on her. "It doesn't look like he's here. What a shame."

"Now, before we get started, I'd like you to hand over your wand. You don't deserve to have a wand at all, and naturally I won't allow you to use any more stolen magic, especially against me," said the man.

"It's my wand, and I'm not giving it to you," said Lily through gritted teeth. She stood up and gripped it firmly in her hand, pointing it toward the man.

"I'll give you one more chance to hand it over before I cause you so much pain you'll beg me to take it from you," said the voice in a steely tone.

"You're going to torture me whether I give you my wand or not, so I really don't see a point in making it easy for you," said Lily.

"Fine, we can do this the hard way. That's alright, it'll be more enjoyable for me to watch you writhe in pain," said the man.

"_Expelliarmus_!" yelled Lily. She watched the wand jerk a little bit in the man's hand, but he had a firm grip on it.

"I warned you," said the man gleefully, "_Crucio_!"

Lily felt instant pain shooting all through her body. Her scalp felt like it was on fire, her lungs felt like they were being squeezed. Her entire body felt like it had been hit by the Knight Bus. She dropped her wand, unable to keep her grip on it. She couldn't focus on anything but the pain. Her scream filled the tunnel, echoing against the stone walls. After the pain subsided, Lily lay on her back on the stone floor, panting for breath. She saw her wand in the man's black-gloved hands and her heart sank. She knew that it was all over.

"Now wasn't that fun, mudblood? I think that you could use a little more, though," said the man. Lily felt rage flood through her, and even though her body was protesting in pain, she used all the strength she had to kick the man in the shin. He cursed and dropped to the ground. Lily took the opportunity to grab a rock that was by her side and throw it down the tunnel. It hit one of the walls a few feet away and made a loud sound.

"Who's there?" the man screamed, jumping up and looking around the tunnels.

While the man was searching, Lily dug in her pocket and pulled out the mirror that James had given her only a little while ago. She looked into her reflection and said "James" as loudly as she could without attracting attention to herself. She waited a second, but all she saw was her reflection. She called his name a little louder, but before she could see if it worked, she heard the man yell, "_Crucio_!" again. Her body fell into spasms of pain again and the mirror fell out of her grip, shattering on the stone floor.

Lily could feel tears running down her cheeks as soon as the intense pain faded. She was out of hope now. Her last hope of being saved had shattered as soon as the mirror hit the stone floor. Now this man was going to torture her until she lost her mind, and she couldn't stop him. Lily tried to hold it together as much as she could. If she was going to be killed, she was going to do it with dignity. She wouldn't give the Death Eater the satisfaction of watching her cry. She wiped the tears off of her cheeks with the back of her hands and slowly stood up, locking her knees so that she stood straight and tall. Maybe she wouldn't defeat this man, but there would be a small victory in holding her head high.

* * *

As soon as Remus saw the costume shop explode, he was out of his seat, running for the door. All he could think about was Hannah. He saw her face, saw her walking away from him and towards the costume shop. He tried not to panic. It had been a half-hour since he had seen Hannah walking towards the costume shop. Maybe she had already left and wasn't in the shop when it exploded.

Remus took in the chaos of the scene as he walked down the main street. People were screaming and crying, one of the walls of the costume shop had been blown off, and there were figures in black robes throwing curses around almost randomly. Remus scanned the crowd in front of the costume shop for Hannah. He didn't see her standing in front of the shop. She had probably already gone back to the castle or to lunch with Carrie.

Remus saw a Death Eater shooting curses at a second-year that he recognized, and he ran to help the Hogwarts student. He started dueling the Death Eater, throwing whatever curses he could think of at the monster. He dodged curses himself, ducking behind benches and dropping to the ground to avoid the erratic curses. Remus had just hit the Death Eater with a jelly-legs jinx when he heard a high-pitched scream coming from his left side. Hannah was on the ground, screaming and jerking in pain. She had a costume clutched in her hands, and a Death Eater was standing over her, holding his wand on her.

"You think it's fun to buy a muggle costume, do you? You think it's fun to wear the filth that they produce?" asked the figure shrilly. "_Crucio_!"

Hannah screamed again in pain and Remus ran over, throwing a curse at the Death Eater. The Death Eater dodged the curse and pointed his wand at Remus. Remus ducked down to avoid their curse, and then shot up, his wand pointed at the Death Eater. He threw all of his rage into his curse, and it knocked the Death Eater back, where he crashed into the front of a shop on the opposite side of the street. Remus quickly stupefied the Death Eater before he turned to Hannah.

"Matthews, are you ok?" asked Remus, bending down and grabbing her hand.

Hannah didn't respond. Her eyes were closed and her face looked very pale.

"Matthews," said Remus a little louder, squeezing her hand. Still, she didn't respond. Remus looked up and around himself, trying to find any kind of help he could get. The street was still complete chaos, with witches and wizards engaged in fierce duels with the Death Eaters.

"You're going to be ok, Hannah," Remus said gently to her, kneeling beside her. "I'm going to get you back to the castle."

Remus gathered her up in his arms and walked down a side street that connected to the main street. As he walked he just kept thinking that Hannah had to be alright. If she wasn't, he would have to live with the fact that it was all his fault.

* * *

Lily knew she was nearing the end of her willpower. Her eyes kept going in and out of focus and the room was spinning, changing directions constantly so she didn't know which way was up and which way was down. Still the hissing voice of the Death Eater cut through the fog she wasin, kept her skin cold and clammy and brought terrifying images to her thoughts whenever she had a coherent moment. She couldn't really hear what he was saying, but the sound of it reached through her muddled brain.

"_Crucio!_" the man screamed again, and the world went black. She was sinking, sinking. She could feel her body tipping back. All that existed were sensations. There were no thoughts, no feelings, there was just falling through the air.

* * *

"James," a voice called from James' pocket. He struggled to pull it out, but when he finally got it out of his pocket, the mirror's surface showed a dark ceiling. He looked at it for a few seconds, wondering what it was showing him.

"D o you think Moony went back to the castle?" asked Sirius. He hadn't noticed the voice coming from James' mirror over the sounds of the disapparating Death Eaters. Dumbledore had just ordered all Hogwarts students to get back to the castle, and Sirius and James were straggling along behind the rest of the crowd.

"Probably, we didn't see him near the costume shop," said James, holding the mirror in his palm in case the voice came from the mirror again.

"James," said the same voice, a little louder. James jerked the mirror up to his vision just in time to see Lily a split second before her image shattered. He could see little sections of her face in jagged patterns.

"Pads, look at this," said James, holding the mirror out so that Sirius could see it.

"_Crucio!_" came a hissing voice from the mirror. A terrible scream rang through the mirror and James and Sirius just barely saw a sweep of black material run across the edge of one of the jagged pieces of mirror.

"Lily, Lily," said James into the mirror. Just as he said it he saw the bottom of a trainer come down on the jagged pieces of mirror. The damage must have been too severe for the mirror to work, because James just saw his own reflection in the mirror right after the shoe.

"Where is she?" asked Sirius, stopping halfway across the Hogwarts grounds.

"She's in the tunnel between Honeydukes and Hogwarts. Pads, do you think that the man in the black cloak found her? Was that him? I should have never sent her back to the castle by herself!" said James, feeling panicked.

"Let's go," said Sirius. They began running back down the lane to Hogsmede. They were just about to enter Hogsmede when Filch appeared in front of them.

"And where d'you think you're going?" asked Filch, frowning down at them.

"One of our friends is still in Hogsmede. We need to find her," said James testily, thinking about what he had just seen in the mirror.

"Dumbledore said no one can go back in, so get back to the castle," said Filch with a dirty smile on his face.

"Oh, come on Filchy, you owe us. If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have had a job for the past six years," said Sirius, grinning mischievously.

"If only I was allowed to hang you by your thumbnails after your first prank," said Filch under his breath, but loud enough that James and Sirius heard him.

"We're going into Hogsmede now, Filch, but maybe you can do that to us when we get back," said James, dodging past Filch and jogging down Hogsmede's main street.

"See you later, Filchy," called Sirius over his shoulder as he jogged beside James.

"And what in the name of Merlin are you two doing here?" called a sharp voice as James and Sirius jogged past.

"Can't talk now, Professor," called James to an enraged Professor McGonagall.

"Don't stop," said Sirius to James. They kept running, ignoring Professor McGonagall, who was staring incredulously at the two boys running down the street.

James and Sirius finally slowed down in an alleyway near Honeydukes. James pulled his invisibility cloak out of his back pocket and the two crouched under it, making sure their feet and ankles were invisible. They moved slowly and carefully through Honeydukes, making sure that they did not draw any attention to themselves. Every second that James spent away from Lily made him more and more uneasy. It had been at least ten minutes since he had seen her hit by the curse. He couldn't let the panic take over him, he held onto hope that Lily would be ok and it propelled him forward.

* * *

"Finally, we got to actually do something. I was getting so tired of waiting for something to happen," said Renwood as he walked beside several Slytherins who had participated in the attack. They had stashed their robes in a cave beyond Hogsmede and they had filtered in with the students returning to Hogwarts.

Severus was walking in the group, but instead of feeling triumphant like the other boys, he was conflicted, and most of this confliction had to do with Lily. He had seen her fighting beside Potter. He had seen Renwood throw her into a bench. It took all of his restraint to ignore it and keep on deuling Black. He wanted to rush over and punch Renwood, to get Lily away from the danger. For once in his life he envied James as he watched the Marauder beat the bogies out of Renwood.

"Do you think the Dark Lord will be angry that we started a battle without his orders?" asked a timid third-year.

"If anything he'll be pleased by our devotion," said a thick blond-haired sixth-year.

"The Professor wasn't very happy about it," said the same third-year.

"At first he wasn't, but when he realized that he would get a chance to take care of the mudblood, he changed his mind," said Renwood, smirking.

Severus' blood boiled and he felt enraged. He let himself be consumed by his anger for a few minutes before he fought to get himself under control. If he was going to figure out how to get Lily out of this mess, he needed to have a clear head.

"How was he able to attack her right under Dumbledore's nose? I would think the disgusting mudblood told Dumbledore all about last night," said Severus, tasting bile in his mouth as he spoke of Lily with that awful word.

"It was almost too easy for the professor to get the mudblood alone. He saw Potter leading her into Honeydukes and figured they were using the secret passage to the castle. He saw Potter come back out, and then he went in. I bet she's screaming right now," said Renwood with a smile on his face.

"Excellent," said Severus. He waited for a few minutes to blend back into the crowd and casually shifted further and further to the back of the crowd swarming around Renwood in the common room.

Severus slipped quietly out of the common room, closing the door on accounts of the battle. Before he heard that Lily was in danger, there had been a lot of thoughts swarming through his brain. Now all he could think about was Lily. How did he allow himself to get sucked into the type of life where he was partially responsible for the torture of the love of his life? As he raced down the halls to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch, waves of feeling crashed over him.

He always kept himself so detached, so cut-off from any kind of emotion, but his love for Lily was always lurking just under the persona he created. A thousand times a day he wondered if things would have been different if he had been sorted into another house, if he hadn't called her a mudblood in fifth year, if he hadn't allowed their clashing houses to pull them apart. Maybe if things were different he would have been the one to punch Renwood in the face and pull Lily away from danger. Maybe instead of running to save her, he'd be sitting with her beside the lake, or studying with her in the library, or snogging her in an empty classroom.

Severus reached the statue and muttered dissendium, tapping the statue with his wand. The statue disappeared, and Severus quickly climbed down the ladder, all of his thoughts concentrated on getting to Lily.

The tunnel was dark, but Severus didn't light his wand. He still hadn't figured out how to save Lily. It was tempting to think about dashing to Lily's side and saving her, to think about carrying her from the tunnel and hearing that she forgives him and wants nothing more to do with Potter, but even in his dreams he had to admit that it would never happen. Lily would never forgive him, no matter what he did for her. Besides, if he drew attention to himself, if he overtly saved Lily, the Dark Lord would come after him and his house would turn on him. He thought that if he had the assurance that she would take him, he would turn his back on his whole life for her. He would risk his life for her if there was a chance that they might be together.

But since there was no chance of them ever even being friends again, Severus needed to come up with a plan that would get the professor away from Lily without making it suspicious. After jogging through the tunnel for several minutes, an idea came to him. It wouldn't change Lily's feelings about him, she would still hate him just as much as she always had, but at least he would have saved her. At least in his own quiet way he would be showing that he loved her.

Severus cast a patronus and whispered a message, sending it to Dumbledore. The stone walls and ceiling were briefly lit by his silver doe as it charged through the tunnel. Severus watched until it disappeared and then he continued to run through the tunnel. He heard the screaming before he could see Lily, and he quickened his pace even more, feeling the strain in his muscles.

Severus saw the professor standing in front of Lily, who was lying on the floor. The professor was just raising his wand, about to cast another curse when Severus ran into the middle of the scene. He jumped right in front of Lily before he had any time to think. He couldn't just watch the professor point his wand at Lily with an unforgivable curse forming on his lips.

"Professor!" said Severus anxiously.

"Snape, what are you doing here? I thought I told Renwood that I didn't want any interruptions," hissed the professor.

"I came to warn you. Dumbledore is coming. I was walking back to the castle when I heard McGonagall tell him that she saw a black-cloaked figure going into Honeydukes after the mudblood," said Severus, looking over at Lily. Her eyes were closed and she was curled up on her side on the floor, hugging her knees tight to her chest. He could just make out tears leaking down her cheeks.

"Well, then, I guess the torture will have to end. What a pity, we were having so much fun, weren't we, mudblood?" asked the professor, using his foot to turn Lily onto her back. "But now I will just have to kill you. Dumbledore spoils everything."

"But professor, he's coming right now. I passed him as he was walking to Honeydukes. If you don't want to get caught you have to go right now," said Severus.

"It will only take a moment for me to kill her, and then I can escape. Dumbledore is old, and he's lost his marbles, and I could kill him if it came to it," said the professor. He turned toward Lily and began to raise his wand.

"But what would the Dark Lord say? Doesn't he want to deal with Dumbledore himself?" asked Severus.

"The Dark Lord will be pleased that I killed that mudblood, and he'll reward me for killing the old fool, you'll see," he said, a mad glint in his red eyes. He turned back to Lily and raised his wand again. "_Avada_," he said.

"_Stupefy_!" Severus yelled, putting all of his love and rage and fear into the spell. The man in the professor was thrown back by the force of the spell, and he fell stiffly to the floor where he lay completely still.

Severus moved cautiously toward Lily. She was now sprawled out on her back, and her cheeks were wet. He crouched down beside her and could just barely hear her whimpering. His hand reached out almost involuntarily and he wiped a tear from her cheek. Lily opened her eyes, staring at him in fear, but she didn't move.

"Lily, are you ok?" asked Severus, hesitantly brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"I-is, is he g-gone?" asked Lily.

"He's still here, but I stupefied him. You don't need to be afraid," Severus promised.

"I d-don't need to be af-fraid of you?" asked Lily, staring mistrustfully at the wand that Severus still had clutched in the hand farther away from her.

"No, Lily, I would never hurt you, ever," he said indignantly. "I never could hurt you," he said quietly, almost under his breath.

"But wh-what about last n-night?" asked Lily.

"I wasn't going to hurt you, Lily. I was going to take on all of the Slytherins and the professor, but I wanted to surprise them with it. I wanted to give us a little bit of a chance of getting out of there alive," said Severus earnestly.

"Why would you do that?" asked Lily quietly, closing her eyes.

"Are you feeling ok, Lily?" he asked anxiously, ignoring her question. He wasn't about to reveal his feelings to her. She would pity him for the rest of his life, and he didn't want to see that, to know she knew he was pathetic.

"Not really," said Lily, wincing as she tried to get up off of the floor.

"Maybe you shouldn't get up right away, Lily. You look really pale. You should probably rest for a little while, get your strength back," said Severus.

"I have to go find James. I was supposed to meet him in our common room after the battle was over. He must be worried," said Lily pushing herself up on her legs.

"Lily, you don't look well enough to go anywhere. Why don't I go get Madame Pomphery for you?" asked Severus.

"I'm fine, Severus," said Lily weakly, taking a few slow, shaky steps.

"Like Merlin you are, Lily," snorted Severus.

"Of course I," began Lily before her eyes closed and she fell backwards.

Severus rushed forward and caught Lily before she fell to the stone floor. He cradled her in his arms for a second, lightly tapping her shoulder, whispering her name to see if she'd wake. She didn't move, didn't open her eyes. After a few seconds of trying to wake Lily, Severus decided he needed to get her to the hospital wing. He picked Lily up and began to carry her back down the tunnel toward the statue of the One-Eyed Witch.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" screamed a voice behind him. He turned around to see James and Sirius rushing towards him with angry scowls on each of their faces.

* * *

James saw Lily in Snivellus's arms and nearly lost his brain, he was so furious. He charged toward the disgusting Death Eater, thinking only of beating the Death Eater out of him.

"Get the bloody hell away from her," growled James, trying to take Lily from him. He couldn't stand the sight of the greasy slimeball's hands all over her. Severus held tight to Lily, and James was afraid of pulling too hard in case Lily got hurt.

"Jealous, are you, Potter?" snarled Severus, smiling coldly at James.

"No, I just want to kill you and you're hiding behind my girlfriend," said James.

"Now, Snivellus, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You can put Lily down or we can break your nose and then take her from you," said Sirius, standing beside James. He stood up tall and cracked his knuckles, "Of course, breaking your nose might be doing you a favor."

"It's nice to know that Evans' boyfriend cares more about beating me up than making sure she's ok," said Severus, "it really shows just how much you don't deserve her."

"And what are you doing here Snivellus? Maybe you're the one who attacked her and you want to take her away to finish her off," said Sirius, a harsh edge to his voice.

"I didn't attack her, Black. Remember the professor? He saw Lily go into Honeydukes with Potter and then saw Potter leave Honeydukes. You might as well have handed her over to him," said Severus. He was shaking with rage, thinking about the idiot Potter letting Lily get into this situation.

"Shut your mouth, Snivelly!" screamed James. Sirius put his hand on James' shoulder and James glanced over briefly and nodded minutely. Sirius squeezed James' shoulder and then let go, and a second later, Sirius' fist collided with Severus' nose at the same time that James lunged to take Lily from Severus' grip.

"You can curse and hex me all you want," said Severus, wiping blood from under his nose with a sweep of the back of his hand, "but you're the one who has to live with the fact that you were off being big bad Potter and fighting Death Eaters while your girlfriend was being tortured."

"Lily," said James, using all of his restraint to ignore Snape. He looked down into her pale face, feeling like the world's biggest idiot. He had thought she would be safe in the tunnel. He had never imagined that anyone else even knew about it. When he looked at Lily, he had to wonder if he had been selfish to go back to the fight.

"Mmm, James," said Lily faintly.

"I'm going to get you to the hospital wing, Lily, you're going to be fine," promised James, "and then, Snivellus, I am going to find you, and you are going to wish that you never attacked her."

* * *

Lily woke in the middle of the night after a fitful afternoon of fitful sleeping and half-consciousness. The moonlight was falling softly across her bed and for a minute she looked out at the dark grounds. The night terrified her, reminding her of the tunnels. She glanced around her in panic and was relieved when she saw James sleeping in a chair beside her bed. She knew Madame Pomphery would have a fit if she saw him, but she just let James keep sleeping. It brought her comfort to know that he was beside her.

She stared across the room, to where Hannah was lying. She hadn't woken yet and if she didn't wake by the morning she was going to be sent to St. Mungos. She had heard Remus and James talking a few hours earlier and she had been worried ever since.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a dark figure moving across the room. Startled, she jumped, but when she saw who it was, she wasn't sure what to think. Severus was creeping as noiselessly as possible across the wooden floor. Lily sat back in bed, deciding whether or not she would pretend to be asleep. He walked to the foot of her bed and Lily saw how tired he looked through a small gap in her eyelids.

"I'm so sorry, Evans," he whispered as he gripped the metal frame of her bed tightly in his hands. His knuckles turned white. "I know that things will never be the same again, Lily. I know that there is too much between us now. We can't be friends. But I love you Lily Evans, and I will always protect you, always," said Severus.

Lily's heart ached for her old friend, but she couldn't forget what he had done. He had called her a mudblood; he was friends with people who wanted to torture her, to kill her. He was right that they couldn't be friends. There was too much history between them.

Severus sighed heavily and looked at Lily once more before he turned and walked back toward the door of the hospital wing.

"Thank you, Severus," said Lily quietly just before he reached the door. He looked back at her and nodded his head sadly before he quietly opened the door and disappeared.

* * *

I hope you liked it! I know it was super long and I apologize for that! As always, I would love to know what you think about the chapter and the direction the story is headed. The cool thing about this serial type story is that you can always tell me what you like/don't like and I can consider your suggestions.

Thanks so much for sticking with my story and thanks for all the reviews. I missed seeing them in my email when I was on hiatus.

Lots of love,  
Littlemisskrissy


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Hi guys! I'm sorry it took longer than I anticipated to update! The end of the semester is really kicking my butt! I could go on and complain about the six papers I have due in the next two weeks, but I'll spare you. This ends my complaining/excuse making time.

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter. If I did then I would build a castle that exactly resembles Hogwarts and live in it. Maybe turn it into a hotel. Ooh, that would be fun...

* * *

Remus rubbed his groggy eyes. It was early on Sunday morning and Remus had already been in the hospital wing for hours, waiting for Hannah to wake up. Remus looked down at Hannah's pale face in the faint pool of sunlight that was streaming in from the window, feeling like the world's biggest jerk. He just kept thinking that it was all his fault that she was in the hospital wing right now, that she was unconscious and might never wake up. He kept reliving that afternoon, kept changing it so that he had asked her to go to lunch with him, asked her to take a walk around the lake, done anything to keep her away from the costume shop before the explosion. He imagined them talking and laughing, her smiling down at him, her blue eyes shining with humor, with life. For minutes at a time he would get sucked into his fantasies, believing them to be the truth. Then he would blink and again he would look on Hannah's pale, lifeless face, forced to acknowledge that he had let his fears keep him away from her, that she might never wake up and it was completely his fault.

"Hey, Moony, how is she?" asked a voice from behind him, startling him. He turned his head and saw James standing awkwardly in the aisle between the rows of beds.

"Not good, Prongs," said Remus gruffly, sniffing quietly.

"I'm sorry," said James, putting his hand on Remus' shoulder. Remus looked up and saw that he was smiling sadly.

"How's Lily?" asked Remus, looking across the aisle where the blue curtain was pulled around Lily's bed.

"She's sleeping now. Madame Pomphery said she's going to fine in a few days," said James.

"How did you do it?" asked Remus quietly, staring down at his hands, fiddling with his fingers.

"How did I do what?" asked James. Remus heard him sit in the chair beside him, but he didn't lift his gaze from his fingers.

"How did you handle it when Lily was in the hospital wing, when you didn't know if she would ever wake again?" asked Remus, just as quietly as before. He just couldn't see how he could keep going on, constantly reliving all the mistakes he'd made, constantly knowing that her pain was his fault.

"I didn't, Moony. I didn't handle it. I just, I just spent a lot of time beside her bed, begging her to wake up, wishing I could go back in time and change everything so that she wouldn't have gotten hurt," said James gruffly, trying to clear his throat.

"Madame Pomphery doesn't even know what happened to her. I got to her so quickly, the Death Eater couldn't have hit her with many curses," said Remus, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Does she have any guesses?" asked James.

"She said Hannah was probably hit with an unknown curse. Tomorrow afternoon some healers from St. Mungos are coming to take her to the hospital," said Remus.

"I'm sure they'll be able to find out what's hit her and heal her, mate," said James.

"Sure," said Remus, but he didn't feel very confident.

* * *

"Lily, Lily," James said, shaking her shoulders. He had just returned from a quick lunch in the Great Hall to find Lily tossing and turning in bed, mumbling frantically.

"Oh, James," said Lily groggily, slowly sitting up in bed. She pulled the loose strands of her pretty red hair behind her ears and blinked a few times.

"Is everything ok? Were you having another nightmare?" asked James worriedly. James had woken early that morning to hearing Lily screaming in bed. Afterwards she had explained that she was dreaming about the man in the black cloak.

"Yeah," Lily admitted, small patches of pink rising on her cheeks. She looked down at the sheets that covered her, pulling at the threads that were hanging from it.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Lily," said James, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, "anyone would have nightmares after what you went through."

"I know," said Lily, quietly, looking down at where their hands were meshed together.

"Lily," said James in a quiet and tender voice. Lily looked up, surprised at the change in his tone. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."

James had been thinking about his decision to leave Lily in the tunnel during every waking moment that day, cursing himself for being so stupid. It almost killed him to admit it to himself, but Snape was right. He had charged off to rejoin the battle without thinking about Lily's safety, without thinking about what she needed. She had begged him to come back to the castle with her, and he had talked himself into doing what he thought was the noble thing to do. But now he realized that being noble wasn't about fighting battles and punishing Death Eaters. It was about sacrificing what he wanted for the good of the people that he loved.

"James, you have to listen to me," said Lily urgently, "What happened to me is not your fault in any way. You had no way of knowing that that man was following me."

"But you asked me to go back to the castle with you, I should have listened."

"No, James. I was just being selfish because I couldn't stand the thought of losing you. You were brave and you did the right thing. You went to fight, to help other people, and I'll never forget that. I'll never forget how much I admired you as I was walking back to the castle, thinking about our kiss and how lucky I was that you were so upset about the Death Eaters that you risked your life to stop them." Lily squeezed James' hand and pulled him closer, hugging him tightly.

"It wasn't brave, Lily. I was the one who was selfish," said James remorsefully.

"You were brave, James. I just hope I'm half as brave as you are when I go to hunt down the man in the black cloak," said Lily defiantly, a steely glint in her eyes.

"When you what?" James roared, pulling roughly away from Lily and staring down at her in disbelief.

"I've decided that I'm not going to be a victim anymore, James. I'm not going to just wait around for the man in the black cloak to find me again. I'm going to hunt him down and find him. And when I find him, I'm going to give him back all the torture he gave me," said Lily, her face distorted in rage. To James she was extremely beautiful but also extremely terrifying.

"You most certainly are _not_ going to go looking for him, Lily!" James shouted, "Just leave it up to the Marauders. Trust me, he'll get what he deserves!"

"I cannot believe you, James! This is the twentieth century and I am not some helpless damsel in distress who needs to be rescued!" shouted Lily, giving James the full extent of her glare. If glares could hex, James was sure that he would be in a lot of pain right now.

"Oh, really? That's not what it looked like yesterday!" James shouted back.

"How would you know what it looked like? You weren't the one to rescue me," said Lily. As soon as she said it she wanted to take it back. She could almost see the words written boldly in the space between them. The air felt chilly and Lily shivered. She reached out her hand into the space between them.

"Now what is going on here?" Madame Pomphery said in her steely voice. She was standing before the bed, her hands on her hips. Lily looked at James' cold eyes and dropped her hand, letting it swing down to hit the side of her bed.

"I'm sorry, Madame Pomphery, it's my fault," said Lily.

"No, it's my fault, Madame Pomphery," said James quickly, glaring at Lily.

"I really don't care whose fault it is, I just want quiet in my hospital wing so that my patients can rest and recover. Do you think you could do that?" Madame Pomphery hissed at them.

"Yes," they both said quietly.

"Good," said Madame Pomphery, fixing them both with a glare before storming off to her office.

"I'm sorry, James. I didn't mean what I said," said Lily.

"I'm sorry, too, Lily. I just can't even think about you being in the same room with that guy ever again," said James. "I care too much about you, Lily, I don't want you to put yourself in danger."

"I am in danger, James, and I always will be because I'm a muggleborn. But I don't have to cower in my room and wait for them to take me away. I can fight back, James. I have to fight back. That's what you've taught me," said Lily.

"Of all the things you could have learned from me," said James, shaking his head.

"I'm going to do this whether I have your permission or not," warned Lily.

"Alright, but at least promise me that you won't do it alone, that you'll let me and the Marauders help you," said James wearily, only slightly happier by these stipulations.

"Deal, partner," said Lily, grabbing his hand and shaking it, smiling cheesily at him.

* * *

"How's she doing?" asked James as he walked up beside Remus, who was still sitting in the chair beside Hannah's bed several hours later.

"She's not any better," said Remus wearily, scrubbing his tired eyes with his fingertips. Remus stood up stiffly and rubbed his back. It was just before dinner time on Sunday night, and he had been in the hospital wing since early this morning. He had a sleepless night in his dorm room, his thoughts focused completely on Hannah as he tuned out Sirius' snoring.

Remus' gaze was fixed on Hannah's pale, blank face. Her brown hair was fanned out around her head on the pillow. Beams of moonlight fell across her face, giving it a faint bit of color. Remus couldn't take his gaze off of Hannah's face. He felt so much guilt welling up inside of him. If he had just asked her to lunch like he had wanted to, she wouldn't be like this now. Now he was plagued by dreams of what could have been, of them talking and laughing in the Three Broomsticks, of him pulling Hannah back towards the castle as soon as the costume shop exploded, making sure she was safe.

"Moony, everything's going to be ok," said James, placing a hand on his shoulder. Remus looked at James' hand like it was a blast-ended skrewt.

"If this was your life, it probably would be," said Remus bitterly, glaring at James.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked James with an edge to his voice.

"It means that you're the great bloody Potter. Your life is perfect! You're popular, you get good grades effortlessly, you have these amazing parents who think every little thing you do is brilliant, and you have a perfect relationship with your gorgeous girlfriend," said Remus. His eyes were flashing with anger, and he felt uncontrollable rage flooding through him. Deep down he knew that he wasn't really mad at James. He was feeling guilty and he just needed to take his frustration out on someone.

"In case you forgot, Moony, you're popular, too, and you get better grades than I do all the time! Your parents might be overprotective sometimes, but they do love you. And my relationship with Evans is not perfect," said James.

"Oh, come on, James, Evans is so in love with you it makes me sick," said Remus.

"Please, Moony, my relationship with Evans is anything but perfect. She only cares about me because she doesn't remember that she has hated me for the past six years. Do you know how hard it is to be with someone, knowing that if they hadn't been lied to, they wouldn't be anywhere near you?" asked James.

"Wow, Prongs, how could I ever understand lying to someone I care about?" asked Remus bitterly, nearly spitting the words in James' face.

"What are you talking about, Moony?" asked James, taken aback by Remus' uncharacteristic attitude. He was usually so calm and rational.

"What am I talking about, Prongs? I'm talking about my furry little problem. I'm talking about how I can never be with Hannah, even if she wakes up, because I would have to lie to her about who I am, who I become once a month," said Remus.

"Why would you have to lie to her?" asked James.

"How could she ever accept me for who I really am? I'm dangerous, Prongs," said Remus, feeling his anger deflate as helpless resignation flooded through him once again. He collapsed back into his chair and ducked his head down, rubbing his forehead.

"We accepted you, mate. You tried to hide your furry little problem from Padfoot, Wormtail, and I because you thought we wouldn't accept you. But what happened? We found out, and if you don't remember, we did some pretty risky stuff just so we could join you and make it easier for you. How do you know Hannah won't react the same way?" asked James.

"I don't really think she'd be jumping for excitement and rush to learn how to turn into a bunny rabbit if she found out," said Remus bitterly.

"Well, no, that would be stupid of her. You know how you like to chase rabbits during your time of the month," said James, smirking at Remus, trying to get him to smile.

"Will you all stop calling it that?" asked Remus, "And that's exactly my point, Prongs, I'm dangerous."

"Moony, just give her a chance. People have a way of surprising you. Just look at Lily," said James, waggling his eyebrows, "two years ago you and Pads bet me that she would never go out with me, and now she's my girlfriend. Wait a minute, you and Padfoot owe me ten galleons!"

"James?" asked a female voice from beside him. He turned to see Lily standing beside him, a curious expression on her face.

"Oh, hi, Lily, how are you feeling? Do you think you should be out of bed?" asked James anxiously, wondering how much of his little speech she had heard.

"Why did Lupin and Black bet you that you wouldn't go out with me?" asked Lily, peering at him openly.

James felt slightly panicked, wondering what he should say. Should he tell her about their rocky relationship? Would he be able to explain it to her without making her mad? Should he finally tell her the whole truth, and see what happened? Every day she remembered more and more about her past before the accident. What if she remembered everything one day? Wouldn't she be mad that he had lied to her?

James looked over at Remus, trying to signal for help. Remus must have seen the panic in James' eyes, because he rolled his eyes at James and turned to Lily.

"You were always so far out of James' league, we never thought you would agree to date him, prat that he is," said Remus.

"Oh, that's silly. James is an amazing boyfriend and I'm lucky to have him," said Lily, smiling shyly up at James.

"No, you're the amazing one." James couldn't help smiling back, but inside he was feeling slightly sick. Was she really his if it was all based off of a lie?  
"No, this isn't awkward for me at all, but thanks for keeping that in mind," said Remus, rolling his eyes. He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he wasn't sure he was really successful.

"Sorry, mate, she just smiles at me and I can't help it," said James, putting his arm around Lily's shoulder and pulling her close to him.

"Aww, that's so sweet, James," said Lily, beaming up at James.

"Again, not awkward at all," said Remus, "I think I'm going to grab some lunch quickly and then I'll be back. See you later."

"Just tell her, mate," said James quietly.

"I will when you do," said Remus, his eyes narrowing at James before he stalked out of the hospital wing and went to the kitchens instead of heading toward the Great Hall. He really didn't feel like being around people right now.

* * *

"Hey, Prongs," said Sirius around the mouthful of food that was dangerously close to falling right back out of his mouth.

"Pads," said James, piling things onto his plate without paying attention to what he was grabbing. James was still thinking about Lily's plan to track down the man in the black cloak. He didn't like the idea of her getting involved, but it didn't really matter if he did or not. She was always so stubborn!

"Where's Moony?" asked Sirius, still talking around his full mouth of food. James was amused for a minute by the Gryffindor girls who were gawking at Sirius in disgust.

"He hasn't been here? He said he was going to dinner a while ago," said James, frowning slightly.

"Should we talk about the Halloween party without him or wait for him?" asked Sirius. He had finally managed to swallow what had been in his mouth, but he had bits of mashed potato stuck to his lips.

"Are you serious, Pads?" asked James. Before Sirius could make his characteristic joke, James rolled his eyes.

"Why, yes, I'm always Sirius," said Sirius.

"I don't know why I put up with you," said James, shaking his head.

"It's because without me you'd be hopeless with the ladies," said Sirius, smiling arrogantly at James.

"Tell me again how stuffing your face makes you appealing to women, because I just don't see it," said James.

"Prongs, Prongs, you have so much to learn, even after all these years," said Sirius, patting him on the shoulder.

"Whatever you say, Pads," said James, rolling his eyes again, "Anyway, I was going to say that maybe we shouldn't do the Halloween party this year."

"That's even worse than my joke," said Sirius.

"You still think we should have a horror-themed party after everything that happened yesterday?" asked James.

"Yes, I do," said Sirius, "I can't believe you'd even think of cancelling it!"

"But Pads, people are already really scared about Death Eaters and Voldemort. Don't you think it would be irresponsible of us to throw a party that will just make them more afraid?" asked James, staring down at his plate and refusing to meet Sirius' eyes. He knew that Sirius was going to tease him about what he was saying.

"How could you even say that, James?" asked Sirius, his face completely shocked, "how could you even say the word irresponsible? Oh, no, I've got it! You're not James at all! You're McGonagall, and you've taken Polyjuice potion to pose as my best mate to get us to cancel our party!"

"Sirius, that's just ridiculous. I'm just concerned," began James.

"You're not fooling me, Professor! Like James would ever say he was concerned!" said Sirius.

"You're going to do this for the rest of the night, aren't you?" asked James, putting his forehead in his hands.

"I don't know, Professor, how long will it take for the potion to wear off?" asked Sirius, a wicked grin on his face.

"You know, sometimes I really hate you, Padfoot," said James.

"I hate you too, Professor," said Sirius. James just groaned.

* * *

Remus spent the whole rest of the night and the following morning beside Hannah's bed. Since Lily had been allowed to leave the hospital wing earlier that evening, James had lent Remus the Invisibility Cloak, so Remus had been able to sit next to her undetected. He dozed off a few times throughout the night, but mostly he sat beside her, trying to work out his confliction and what James had said. Was there really any hope that Hannah would accept him for who he was, monster and all?

When the first lights of dawn stole across the darkened hospital wing, Remus stretched his tired muscles and stood beside Hannah's bed. He pulled back the covers a little bit and found her hand. He took her small, delicate hand in his and rubbed the smooth back of it.

"Hannah," whispered Remus, ashamed that his voice was rough and clogged, "please wake up. I'm sorry I was such a prat and that I ignored you and blew you off. Wake up so I can tell you the biggest secret I've ever had, so I can explain to you why I made such a terrible mistake. I care about you a lot, and I want a second chance, so you have to wake up."

Remus stood silently above her bed, watching her, waiting for her to wake up. After several moments Remus got a sudden inspiration. He knew it sounded ridiculous, but he just knew that if he kissed her she would wake up. He closed his eyes and saw exactly how it would happen. He would lean down and brush her soft lips with his, and she would wake up and sit up and tell him that she forgave him. She would say that she knew he was a werewolf, had known all along, and that it didn't bother her at all. She would say that she wanted to be with him.

Remus leaned down over Hannah and studied her face in the pale light of morning. He brushed his hand through her thick brown hair, feeling the silky threads of it and smiling. Slowly he moved closer and closer to her, breathing in the slightly flowery scent of her shampoo. Inch by inch he got closer and closer, a million thoughts running through his head, a million thoughts and memories all centered on Hannah.

Hannah's lips were just as soft as Remus had imagined, and with his eyes closed he remembered all the times that he had spent with her, all the times he had looked at her when she wasn't paying attention. Remus had been just as crazy about Hannah for as many years as James had been crazy about Lily, Remus just hadn't ever shared his thoughts with anyone else because he knew his feelings couldn't ever truly be reciprocated. But with this kiss he knew they would, he knew that everything would be ok, just as James had predicted.

"Remus," said Hannah, as Remus pulled back slowly. His eyes flew open and he watched in amazement as she sat up and grabbed his hand.

"Hannah, I can't believe you're ok," said Remus, smoothing her hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry, Remus," she said, her voice filling him with elation when he heard his name on her lips, "I must look a mess."

"No, Hannah, you look beautiful, like always," said Remus, beaming down at her.

"Thank you, Remus," said Hannah, her cheeks blushing slightly.

"Can I ask you a question, Hannah?" asked Remus nervously. It was horrible timing, but he knew that if he didn't get it out right away then he would come up with a million reasons why he shouldn't.

"Of course, you can ask me anything," said Hannah.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked, impatient for her answer from the second that the question was halfway out.

"Yes," said Hannah, smiling widely up at him.

This whole scene played out in Remus' mind as he slowly pulled away from Hannah's soft lips. Once he was standing up straight again he opened his eyes slowly and shifted his gaze very slowly to just above Hannah. He wanted to prolong the moment, to give himself another moment of infinite possibility. He took a deep breath and looked down at Hannah.

All of the breath escaped from his lungs and he felt like collapsing on the floor at the foot of her bed. She hadn't moved, her eyes were still shut, and she looked just as pale as she had for the past couple of days. Remus couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that what he had been so sure would work had failed.

Remus couldn't believe that in a few hours Hannah would be taken to St. Mungos. What was he supposed to do when she was taken away from him? When he couldn't watch over her and notice minute changes in her skin tone, or be sure that he saw her eyelids flutter or her fingers fidget? What if she never came back?

He covered himself with the invisibility cloak again, even though it was now late enough for him to be allowed in the hospital wing. He didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't want anyone to be able to find him. Maybe he would live in the invisibility cloak for a while, sneak down to the kitchens for meals, roam the castle at night, and sleep through his classes during the day.

Remus sat watching Hannah from under the invisibility cloak until the healers from St. Mungos arrived and then he slipped out of the hospital wing. From outside of the hospital wing doors, he saw Lily, James, Carrie, and Sirius through the window. They were at Hannah's side, offering words of encouragement to her, telling her that they cared about her. Remus turned and hurried to the dormitory. He kept thinking over and over again how many opportunities he had missed to tell Hannah that he cared about her.

* * *

"Moony," said a voice from beyond the red curtain that Remus had hastily pulled around his bed after he hastily threw himself on his mattress. Remus had been trying to fall asleep for the past half-hour, but he had only succeeded in tossing and turning every few minutes.

Remus didn't say anything, he just lay sprawled out on the bed. He didn't move when James pulled the curtain back from around his bed. He didn't even open his eyes.

"Nice foot, Moony," said Sirius, tickling it. It was hanging out from the invisibility cloak, the only part of Remus that was visible.

"What do you want?" asked Remus in an irritated tone.

"Padfoot, I don't think that's helping," James murmured in Sirius' direction.

"Well I don't know what I'm supposed to do, do I?" said Sirius, throwing his hands up. "I'm not into this whole share your feelings thing."

"Ignore him, Moony," said James, rolling his eyes. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"I don't think there's anything I want that you can give me," said Remus.

"Not even a special prank on the Slytherins in your honor?" asked Sirius with a cheesy smile.

"No, but I would like to torture the Death Eaters who started the attack," said Remus bitterly. "Wait for the full moon and…"

"That's it!" Sirius yelled suddenly. James and Remus turned to look at him as if he had lost his mind, and then remembered that he already had long ago.

"Pads, I'm sure you thought of a great prank, but why don't we talk about it later? I'm not sure Moony wants to hear about it right now," said James.

"No, I'm not talking about a prank," said Sirius, "I'm talking about forming a group that will keep tabs on the Slytherin Death Eaters."

"Wow, did Sirius actually have a good idea?" James asked Remus.

"I think he did," said Remus.

"And that's not all. We'll put our first plan into action at the Halloween party," said Sirius mysteriously.

"Plan? What plan?" asked James worriedly.

"Don't you worry, I've got it covered. You just worry about expressing all of your deep inner-most feelings to each other, and I'll do the manly work. I'll see you both later," said Sirius, a wicked smile on his face.

"I don't think I like the sound of that," said James.

"I know. How probable is it that Sirius will have two good ideas in a row?" asked Remus.

* * *

AN: So, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know this chapter was sad but I promise that soon there will be some more pranks and fun so stick with it. I don't know when I'll update next, but the good news is that in 3 weeks I'll be done with school until the end of August, so that'll be almost 4 months of much more frequent updating! Yay!

I have a little pop quiz for you. Ready?

What's a clickable link that I would really really love for you to click?

I know you know it! You're very bright fanficers, so I know you know the answer!

That's right! It's the REVIEW clickable thing! Yay! Virtual key lime pie for all! (unless you don't like key lime pie, in which case virtual _ (insert whatever desert you want on the line) (Although I have to say that I make really good key lime pie))

Bonus Question: What should you do right now?

Huh? Water your sunflower, which you affectionately named Moe? Paint your room florescent orange? Don a winter hat and run outside screaming, "I am the master of the hokie pokie!" ?

No! You should REVIEW my story!

So now that you know that the last few weeks of the semester has made me lose my sanity, I really hope that you disregard my weirdness and continue with my story. I promise I will be much more normal after the semester is over! (hopefully).

Love,

LittleMissKrissy


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Ok, so it's a little late and, to be honest, it is not my favorite. It's also shorter than usual. I just felt so bad about it being later than I expected that I wanted to get it to you as quickly as I could. So, I apologize in advance. I do hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I know you're shocked to hear this after fifteen chapters of reminders, but I am not J.K. I'm just Kristin. Hmm... J.K. and just Kristin. Maybe I am kind of J.K. Wow. I really thought I would bounce back and be normal again after the semester ended. Apparently I'll never be the same again.

* * *

Lily crept across the dark, silent grounds, unable to believe she was openly defying school rules. Memories of who she was had slowly been returning to her and she knew that this was completely uncharacteristic of her. She pulled her sweater tighter against her chest as the chilly breeze blew across the open expanse of dark lawn. She shivered from the cold, but also from the thought that anyone could easily sneak up on her. Images of the man in the black cloak rushed through her brain and she felt like an absolute idiot for forgetting about the threat of him as she snuck out of her common room. She had been way too preoccupied with other thoughts to remember that she needed to be cautious. Her pace quickened now as she continued walking across the slightly damp grass.

Once she reached the pitch she took a deep breath and instantly felt some of the tension in her body dissipate. The dark lawn had made her nervous, but now as she walked across the pitch to the supply shed she felt safe. After a week of grueling quidditch practices Lily felt like she knew every blade of grass and every scrap of wood in the pitch. Although all the others had complained at James' obsessive practices in preparation for the next day's match against Hufflepuff, Lily had loved every minute of it. She loved being on the team and flying through the air on the broom, but what she really loved was seeing James. He had been noticeably absent all week, and she just couldn't understand why he was avoiding her. With a groan Lily tried to push these thoughts away from her despite her frustration.

Lily murmured a soft "_Alohamorah,_" to the lock on the shed and felt excitement surge through her as she heard the click. She found the broom she had been using for the past few practices instantly and shut the shed. The moment Lily was in the air she felt all the tension leave her body. It was strange how quickly Lily had come to love the feeling of flying and how natural it now felt to her. It wasn't the only thing that she was surprised to come to love so quickly, it was just too bad that the other thing, or person rather, that she loved was also what had kept her up at night tossing and turning until she gave up and snuck out of the castle, something she had never done in her life.

Groaning as the anxiety and frustration returned, Lily threw herself into a quick dive and flew as fast as she could get the ancient school broom to fly. Lily had barely seen James in the past week and definitely hadn't had any time alone with him. The kiss before James left to rejoin the battle was the only kiss that Lily could remember them having, although she was sure that they had kissed plenty of times before then. James had been her boyfriend before the accident. It made sense that they had kissed before, that their kiss in the middle of the battle didn't mean as much to him as it meant to her. To her, it was like their first kiss. It made her a little uncomfortable to realize that she had no idea how far they'd gone before her accident. Had they gone all the way? Was she a virgin? Thinking about all of this reminded Lily that there were so many things she still didn't know about James, about her relationship with him.

All week Lily had been dreaming about and hoping for another kiss from James, but he had been busy with the Marauders, working on plans for the Halloween party that would happen in a week. James had explained this to her during Potions class, but she couldn't help thinking there was something he wasn't telling her. Not to mention that every time she started to talk to him about looking for the man in the black cloak he quickly changed the subject. So over the past week Lily had spent a ridiculous amount of time wondering what she had done wrong and alternately wondering if he was avoiding her.

All thoughts were pushed out of Lily's mind as she focused on the burning feeling in her muscles and the wind whipping through her loose hair. It felt amazing to have a respite from her nagging thoughts. When her heart felt like it would burst and she began gasping in huge gulps of air, she finally slowed down, feeling better than she had all night, maybe even all week. There was just something about flying that calmed her down and cleared her head. She had known as soon as she had caught sight of the pitch from her bedroom after hours of tossing and turning that it was exactly what she needed.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" growled a voice from below her. Lily was so startled by the voice breaking the silence of the dark night that she let go of the broom at the same moment that a gust of wind hit her broom. As the broom was pushed sideways Lily fell off of it before she could grip the handle with her legs. Lily grimaced as she saw the ground get closer and closer to her.

"Lily!" She heard the voice rise in alarm just before she felt herself slam into a solid body. As she hit the body she felt it tumble backward. When she opened her eyes she looked into James' concerned hazel eyes. She felt her breathing hitch as she stared at his handsome face and become aware of his muscled legs and chest beneath her. She was lying on top of him, and she was reminded once again that she had no idea how far they had gone. She felt her cheeks grow warm as she thought about her position and how easily she would be able to melt into him and kiss him until they were both breathless.

"Are you ok?" asked Lily with concern, beginning to get up when her head had cleared a bit.

"I am now," said James huskily as he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her back down on top of him. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah," Lily stammered as she looked down at his lips. She remembered exactly how soft they felt when he had kissed her. But then she remembered why she had come to the pitch in the first place and tried to quell her longing. James obviously wasn't as interested in her as she was in him.

"I'm about to get very mad in a second, but first I wanted to tell you how much I've missed you this past week," he said, squeezing her tightly.

"I missed you, too," said Lily happily, relieved that James had missed her. And if the way he was looking into her eyes was any indication, he was just as eager for their next kiss as she was. Before she would allow the silly, giddy, exuberant happiness to bubble up out of her, she remembered what he said first. "Wait, why are you mad at me?"

James had been drawing closer and closer to her, but then at her last sentence his face got very serious. He loosened his hold on her and shifted her off of him. Lily felt disappointed for a second. She definitely should have kept her big mouth shut and kissed him instead, but it was too late now. James sat up and Lily could almost feel his anger dripping off of him.

"What were you thinking, leaving the castle in the middle of the night, Lily? Do you not remember what happened last weekend? You were almost killed! The man in the black cloak hasn't been caught yet, Lily, and you just decide to leave the cast for a late night flying session? Why would you do that?" James exploded, standing up and pacing. He was running his hands through his hair, only managing to make it stick up even more.

"I couldn't sleep," Lily offered feebly, knowing how stupid her actions had been, "I thought flying would help."

"And you couldn't just go to the Room of Requirement that's just down the hall or wait for me to get back?" he shot back.

"I don't have a broom, James. I would have to come down here to use a school one anyway. And how was I supposed to know when you would be back? You were nowhere to be found when I left our rooms," said Lily, allowing some of her previous frustration to color her tone.

"Merlin, Lily, you could have borrowed my broom. It's right in our common room," said James.

"Really? You'll let me borrow your broom?" asked Lily incredulously. Lily knew how much he loved his broom, she saw him polishing and caring for it enough in the common room to know how much he loved it.

"Of course you can. Whenever you want," said James, his anger momentarily gone. He smiled down at Lily, betraying how much he cared for her.

"In that case I'll borrow it for our match tomorrow. You don't need it then, right?" Lily asked with an impish grin on her face.

"You're way too cute. You make it impossible to stay mad at you," James said, shaking his head at her. His beaming smile made Lily feel her knees weaken. She couldn't help beaming back.

"So is that a yes?" asked Lily.

"I really care about you, Lily, but that is just asking too much," said James. He grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her towards him. "Let's go, we've got a match tomorrow and we have to crush Hufflepuff."

With a lazy flick of his wand he sent the broom Lily had been using back into the shed and locked it. He put his arm around Lily and steered her across the pitch.

"So what were you doing tonight?" asked Lily curiously. She had been sitting in the common room for hours waiting for him to return. He had disappeared after dinner and although she spent some time hanging out with Carrie, she had really been more focused on James all night. Carrie had seemed annoyed about Lily's preoccupation all night and had left at nine, which gave Lily a long time to worry about James.

"Just Marauder stuff," James said quickly.

"For the party?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, but I can't reveal too much. It's supposed to be a surprise," said James, smiling at her. "Are you sure you still want to go after everything that happened? We could just spend the time hanging out in our common room if you want."

"And miss the last Marauder Halloween party ever? No way!" said Lily in mock horror.

"I'm sure it won't be the last ever, but it will be the last at Hogwarts," James said with a sigh, "I can't believe it's almost all over. We've only got eight months left and then we'll be in the real world."

"Oh," said Lily, realizing for the first time how little time she had left to remember all the things she had forgotten, to make a decision about what she would do for the rest of her life. The thought made her feel like she was about to hyperventilate. "That is terrifying."

"So what was keeping you from falling asleep?" asked James as they neared the front doors to the castle.

"Oh, er," said Lily, feeling her cheeks burn. She hoped it was too dark for James to notice.

"What? What's wrong?" asked James, stopping just before the doors to the castle and turning to stand in front of her.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Lily asked, looking down at his trainers.

"I saw you zooming around the pitch, Lily. It's the middle of the night. You snuck out of the castle, and you admitted that you couldn't sleep," he reminder her.

"Oh. Right," she said awkwardly, "it's nothing."

"I wish you'd trust me, Lily. You can tell me anything. I want you to tell me everything," he said emotionally, squeezing her hand.

"It's not that I don't trust you. It's just, well, embarrassing," Lily admitted. She knew that James could see her blush under the lights that hung above the doors to the castle.

"Now you have to tell me," he said with a curious look on his face. "Please."

"Alright, well, er," said Lily.

"You're killing me, Lily. I can't take the suspense," James groaned.

"You can't take the wait?" Lily asked incredulously, tossing her hands in the air and feeling a spark of irritation grow within her.

"Whoa, what did I?" James began, clearly thrown off by Lily's instant angry reaction.

"What did you do? Seriously? You've ignored me for the past week and despite the fact that we had an amazing, incredible kiss last week, you haven't tried it since then. And then you go and stand there looking unfreakingbelievably sexy with your fitted t-shirt over your gorgeous muscles and your soulful hazel eyes piercing right through me and you have the NERVE to complain about making you wait for more than five seconds to answer your question when I've been waiting six days for you to kiss me again!" Lily huffed, punctuating her last word with a light hit to his shoulder.

"Are you don?" asked James, smiling a crooked smile down at her.

"Am I done? No, I don't think," she began, but could get no further because James' mouth came crashing down on hers. The kiss lasted a blissful second before James cracked up into her mouth and pulled back, still laughing.

"What is wrong with you?" Lily asked, glaring daggers at him.

"You said you don't think," he said, wiping under his eyes as he continued to laugh.

"You're an immature git," she said, rolling her eyes and turning to go back into the castle.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" he asked, grabbing her arm before she could escape.

"I thought I would go to sleep and hopefully wake up to a James that isn't acting like an immature firstie during a very serious, wonderful moment," Lily growled.

"Really? Because I've been thinking about kissing you for a week now, and I'd really like to do that now, if you don't mind. I don't think," he said.

Lily quickly darted in and cut him off with a kiss. She pulled back just as quickly and fake laughed.

"You said you don't think, ha, ha, ha," she said in an exaggerated impression of James.

"Lily, Lily," he said, shaking his head at her, "no one likes a copy cat."

"James?" Lily said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Just shut up and kiss me for real this time, or I will march back to my room and you'll lose your chance."

"Yes, ma'am," said James, and he bent down and planted a soft kiss on her lips before pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. Lily felt a delicious shudder go through her whole body and any last bit of tension left her body. Kissing James was definitely better than flying.

* * *

AN: So, the next chapter will be the quidditch match, so it won't be as much fluff as this chapter. I was feeling in the mood for a little bit of JP/LE fluff with this chapter, but next chapter will have more plot and more from the other characters in the story. Will Hannah wake up? What is Sirius' brilliant plan? Will Gryffindor win the quidditch match? Will the giant squid be on the Hufflepuff team? Will McGonagall and Dumbledore be caught in a steamy liplock on the middle of the quidditch pitch as the students file into the stands for the match? Will Severus Snape be wearing a tutu and twirling in the air singing "Hey Soul Sister" by Train? I love that song by the way. It was just playing and I was totally dancing around my room. Will Hannah suffer from memory loss from her accident? Would one littlemisskrissy really do that to a second character in the story? Probably not, but stay tuned to find out!

Now that that ridiculous teaser is over with, I have a challenge for all of you beautiful fanficers! As you know, the Halloween party is coming up, and I was wondering, um this is awkward, if any of you would like to be my date. Psh, just kidding! I couldn't resist. In all Siriusness, You know I've already got the costumes for the girls figured out, but what about the guys? I need costume ideas for James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. If you guys are still with me, send me your suggestions, and the fanficer or fanficers who send an idea that I pick will get a sneak preview of the chapter the day before I post it! I know, I'm totally stealing this idea from an awesome fanfiction writer that I read a while back. I can't remember who it was, and I feel bad about that. I read WAY too much fanfiction! But I give them total credit for a brilliant idea! So get going! I plan to write the next chapter this week and the Halloween chapter the following week.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and feel free to tell me that you liked it or didn't like it. The review button is just below!You are all awesome!

Love as always,

Littlemisskrissy


	17. Chapter 17

A.N. I'll Keep this short since I've been so horrible and haven't written in a LONG TIME. Consider this my Christmas gift to all of you!

J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. There is no spell that can change that. I just work with her world and add my own crazy flair.

* * *

****Before James met up with Lily****

"Where is Moony? He can't expect us to do all the work for this Halloween party without him," complained Sirius from where he was lounging on a hammock that had been transfigured to look like a gigantic cobweb.

"Yeah, you complain. I'm the only one doing any work," grumbled Peter, who was hesitantly standing beside a box that contained large spiders, cringing as he reached toward them.

"Did you say something Wormy?" asked Sirius, flicking his amused gaze lazily over to the pudgy boy.

Peter looked on the verge of saying something. His mouth opened slightly, but after a few seconds his face flushed and he turned back toward the spiders. Sirius' smirk deepened, and James just rolled his eyes.

"You know he's upset about Hannah, Pads, just give him some time," said James, who was lazily flicking his wand and hanging curtains of spider webs from the ceiling, lounging beside Sirius on a chair that was transfigured to look like a skull.

"He's had time, Prongs, he's been moping all week long. It's not normal," whined Sirius.

"You're just upset because he hasn't done his homework, so you can't copy it," said James impishly.

"There is that, but he's also helping you to ruin our reputation," said Sirius, flicking his disapproving gaze toward James.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked James.

"You know what it means. We used to be the Marauders, the ladies men of Hogwarts, the men women drooled over, who always left the girls wanting more. Now we just look like saps, and the only thing girls will be queuing up for us now is to let us carry their purses. Prongs has allowed Lily to take complete control over him, and Moony is moping non-stop over Hannah. He's probably in our dorm with the curtains drawn around his four-poster, sobbing and writing sad love poems," said Sirius in disgust.

"I do not allow Lily to control me. If anything, I control her," said James defiantly.

Sirius and Peter both snorted.

"I don't know what you're laughing about; I do whatever I want to do," said James.

"Prove it," said Sirius.

"How?"

"I have a great idea for a prank that may just take _Moody_'s mind off of Hannah," said Sirius, a hug smile on his face.

"Another good idea from Pads, is it even possible?" asked James in mock-surprise.

"Well someone has to be the smart one since Moony's missing," said Sirius.

"And you think that would be you?" asked Peter, snorting loudly.

"I wouldn't be so smug if I was you, Wormy. You might just end up with a few leggy, crawly visitors in your bed tonight if you continue," said Sirius. Peter squealed, making Sirius smile wider.

"Can you just tell us what this brilliant plan is already, unless you don't really have one," said James.

"Oh, it is definitely a good plan. One that will get you in BIG trouble with Lily," said Sirius. "You ok with that, or do you want to check with her first?" asked Sirius, raising his eyebrows at James.

"I do not need to ask her permission. Besides she is so in love with me now that she thinks everything I do is perfect," said James.

"Sure," said Sirius with heavy sarcasm.

"Just tell us your idea," said James in obvious frustration.

Lily stood in the common room the next morning after her shower, reliving her kiss with James. She knew she should be thinking about the first quidditch match that was only a few short hours away, but her brain just wouldn't focus. Everything about the kiss had been perfect, exactly what she needed to be reassured of his feelings for her. Lily sank down into the plushy couch, wondering when James would wake up. It had been very quiet in the common room since she had woken up, which was common on a regular Saturday morning, but she had expected James to wake up early and freak out about the impending match.

After another fifteen minutes of waiting, and after flipping through one of the quidditch magazines James had left on the coffee table, Lily decided to head down to breakfast by herself. Her stomach was starting to rumble, and she would need plenty of fuel for her first match. As the match drew closer she started feeling nerves thrumming through her, competing for her attention, pushing images of the previous night out of her mind.

When Lily arrived in the Great Hall, she was surprised to see the Marauders already seated at the table. Even Sirius was up, shoveling overflowing spoonfuls of porridge into his mouth. Remus, who had been absent for several meals and even a few classes in the past week was sitting beside Peter, pushing a pile of eggs around his plate. His eyes were dull with deep black circles rimming them. He looked horrible. Lily felt an immediate sadness as she looked at him. She knew he was miserable without Hannah.

"Hey, Lupin, how are you?" she asked as she squeezed in between him and James. She placed her hand on his shoulder and felt him flinch underneath her touch.

"Alright," he said quietly, staring down at his plate.

"So you ready for your first match, Evans?" asked Sirius.

"I'm nervous, but as soon as I get up in the air I know I'll be fine," said Lily confidently. Truthfully she didn't quite feel as relaxed as she was acting, but she figured if she acted confident then she would feel confident.

"She's doing better than you did your first match, mate," said Sirius, looked at James with an amused smile. "I didn't think you were going to make it."

"Why? What happened on the day of his first match?" asked Lily.

"Lily, do you want to go down to the pitch a little early?" interrupted James, shooting a glare toward Sirius.

"What happened?" asked Lily curiously, ignoring James.

"He hid in his bed, refusing to go down. He had a dream that he fell off his broom and thought it was a premonition," said Sirius. "And when we finally talked him into going, he hurled in a bush outside the pitch."

"But then he went on to score one hundred points, more than the rest of his team combined," said Lily sweetly, smiling up at James, patting his hand.

"How do you know that? Do your remember?" asked James, staring at her with a guarded expression.

"I don't know. It just came to me all of a sudden," said Lily, confused herself. She had momentarily remembered watching a younger James zooming around the pitch scoring all of those goals.

"Do you remember anything else?" asked Sirius casually, though when Lily looked up at him she could have sworn she saw a moment of panic flash through his eyes.

"No, just James flying around the pitch," said Lily, "you looked really cute in your quidditch gear."

"Isn't that cute? Now I think I'm going to puke in the bushes outside of the pitch," said Sirius, clutching his stomach and pretending to be sick.

"You don't have to be jealous, Pads, someday you'll find your soulmate, too," said James, smiling at Sirius and patting him on the back.

"Merlin, I hope not. Not if it makes me look as pathetic as you look right now," said Sirius. But he was staring down at his bowl, mushing his porridge against its sides.

"So are you really as confident as you seem?" asked James. They were walking down to the pitch, swinging their linked hands through the chilly air.

"I'm really nervous, James. I don't think I can do this," said Lily in a worried voice.

"Lily, you don't have to be nervous. You'll be great!" comforted James, pulling her closer to him and putting his arm around her shoulder. The bright fall leaves waved from the tree line of the forbidden forest and their shoes crunched through fallen leaves.

"No, I'll be awful. I think I'm about to run back to my bed and hide in it, or puke in the bushes," said Lily, smiling at James, unable to completely stifle her laughter.

"That's pathetic, Evans," said James, smiling back at her, "at least do something original."

"Alright, how about I just pull you under the stands and snog you until the match is over," said Lily, shooting James a look that definitely had him considering it for a moment.

"Because you're nervous?" asked James.

"No, because I've been thinking about our kiss all morning, and I want to kiss you again," said Lily, her cheeks turning rosy.

"Me too," said James, squeezing her hand.

"So?" asked Lily, "Do you want to?"

"After the match. We can celebrate our victory just the two of us," said James.

"You're awfully confident in yourself," Lily said, shaking her head at him.

"No, I'm confident that I have the best beater in the school," said James.

"If that's even true, it's only because I've been trained by the best Captain Hogwarts has ever had," said Lily.

"I'm definitely going to be sick now," said Sirius, pretending to hurl as he walked past them.

"One day, Pads," said James, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

"Stop threatening me, Prongs, you'll give me nightmares. Just make sure you're ready to be a real Marauder after the match," said Sirius before heading toward the changing rooms.

"What was that about?" asked Lily.

"Nothing, let's go get ready for the match," said James, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. He really hoped that Lily didn't get angry at what was about to happen. He really wanted to celebrate their victory with her after the match.

"Ready?" Sirius whispered in James' ear as he passed the Captain on the way down to the pitch. It had been a quick, eventless match. Gryffindor had flattened Hufflepuff easily, Sirius catching the snitch within the first fifteen minutes. Although James knew he hadn't played his best, he had been too preoccupied with watching Lily and making sure she didn't get injured, they had still been one hundred points above Hufflepuff when the snitch was caught. Now that the match was over, it was time to have some fun.

"Definitely," said James, allowing a slight grin to appear on his face for a second before he composed himself. He didn't want to get caught for what he was about to do.

"Somnium somni," James whispered quietly as he walked out into the middle of the pitch, his voice drowned out in the cheering of the Gryffindors in the stands and the boos and hisses coming from the Slytherin stands. James tucked his wand back into his pocket and advanced.

"Somnium somni," Sirius whispered as James came up to him. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Sirius smirking. "Now just sit back and enjoy this," whispered Sirius.

At first James thought that the spell hadn't worked. The crowd continued to cheer and boo as they had before, and nothing appeared to be different. As soon as he saw Dumbledore march out onto the middle of the pitch, however, he knew that it would be brilliant. James clutched his broomstick and concentrated on keeping a straight face.

"Attention students. I have a very grave announcement to make. I do not wish to alarm anyone here, but I feel it is my duty to inform you that," said Dumbledore, his mouth drawn into a deep frown as he paused. The pitch was completely silent, all students were watching the Headmaster in rapt attention, waiting for some grim news to escape his lips and forever alter the course of their lives. Dumbledore had never interrupted the merriment after a Quidditch match to make an announcement before, so it must be serious.

"**I'm singing in the rain**," Dumbledore began singing, transfiguring his hat into a pink and green polka-dotted umbrella and twirling around the pitch, "**just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling I'm happy again**." Dumbledore twirled around a beam from one of the stands, still singing as students in the stands looked at each other in amused shock, wondering if Dumbledore had finally lost his marbles. "**I'm laughing at clouds so dark up above. The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love!**" Dumbledore belted as he skipped over to the announcer's table.

James was so focused on Dumbledore that he almost missed McGonagall leap up from her chair at the announcement table and rip the clips out of her hair, shaking her head vigorously as her long gray hair tumbled out of the tight bun she always wore. McGonagall leaped over the table and threw herself at Dumbledore, who fell backwards with the force.

"Oh, Albus, I'm ready for a hot cauldron full of love, and you're just the potion master I want to stir it," she purred before her lips came crashing down on Dumbledore's. The crowd roared with laughter, as every word McGonagall said rang through the stadium thanks to the magically magnified voice spell McGonagall had cast before the match began.

"Oh, Minerva," Dumbledore said as their lips broke apart with a loud smack.

"My Alby, call me Minnie," said McGonagall in a throaty voice.

"Oh, Minnie, you taste deliciously like Sherbet Lemons," said Dumbledore, going in for another kiss. Students in the stands gasped as suddenly, golden round objects started falling from the sky. Dumbledore looked up and a beaming smile fell over his face.

"Sherbet Lemons!" cried Dumbledore, pushing McGonagall off of himself and standing up, holding his arms out wide as the sweets rained down on him. "**Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place. Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face**," Dumbledore resumed singing, once again twirling under the falling sherbet lemons. "Ouch! Ouch! That's a little more painful than I always imagined."

"Merlin's tentacles! I, I can't believe it!" shouted the boy who was sitting at the announcer's desk. He had floppy blonde hair and his magically magnified voice rang out through the pitch as he leaped up from the desk. "I've made my first discovery! It's the crumple-horned snorkack! I knew they existed!"

The blond-haired boy rushed across the pitch, nearly tripping over Dumbledore and McGonagall who were once again in an intense liplock.

"Lovegood, watch where you're going! Ten points from Ravenclaw!" shouted McGonagall, breaking off her kiss with Dumbledore with a sound like a plunger becoming unstuck.

"Wow, she stops during a make out session to take away house points. You've got to admire her dedication," said Sirius, who was chuckling beside James.

"You all doubted me! But I just saw it! And one day I will have my own magazine and I will print the truth!" shouted Xenophilius. "And then I will go off in search of this," he continued, pulling out his deathly hallows necklace.

"Grindlewald?" asked Dumbledore, squinting at the necklace, his glasses askew on his face. McGonagall looked back and forth between Albus and Xenophilius, a sour look on her face.

"I thought you were over him, Albus, but now I realize that I'm just kidding myself. I will always come second to him!" shouted McGonagall as she rose from the ground and stalked out of the pitch. There was a big smear of mud on the back of her robes that made her indignation even more hilarious.

"I was young, Minnie. Everyone experiments! It was the 1890s, Minnie, it was a time of great controversy, magic carpets, and moonbeams!" Dumbledore said as he hurried to follow McGonagall out of the pitch.

"Brilliant," whispered James as he turned to look at Sirius. As he turned he caught a glimpse of the stands. It took him a minute to fully take in the chaos. At the edge of the forbidden forest, a young Gryffindor girl was riding around on a unicorn that was singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow," to her. In the stands Sybill Trelawney was shouting in a deep voice that Rita Skeeter would turn into a beetle. James looked over at Rita and watched in horror as she disappeared and then a beetle crawled up Trelawney's robes and over her face as Trelawney screamed and flailed around. Over in the Slytherin stands Narcissa Black placed a bubblehead jinx over her sister's head, and screamed, "Yes! Finally some quiet!" as Bellatrix tried hopelessly to pull the fishbowl off of her head. In the center of the pitch Hagrid was waltzing with the Giant Squid, who dripped giant droplets of lake water onto the heads of several students who were roving over the pitch.

James was grinning broadly, taking in the scene when he felt something slam into him from the side. When he looked up Lily was straddling him as he lay on his back on the pitch. Merlin, her green eyes were locked on his and he couldn't look away. James tried to figure out what emotion her eyes were clouded with, but was distracted when she leaned down and started kissing him in the middle of the pitch. Lily licked the corners of his lips and it drove him wild. Her hands were all over his chest and sides and after a few minutes she started tugging on the zipper of his quidditch robes.

"Lily?" James asked as he pulled his head to the side and held her shoulders away from him. She had never acted like this with him before, so wild, so passionate. But James was very aware that it was part of the spell and he couldn't respond to her the way he would if it was real. And as if they weren't in the middle of the pitch with tons of their peers surrounding them.

"James, **I want you, I want you so bad it's driving me mad, it's driving me mad**," she whispered in his ear. James felt her breath on his neck and he shuddered underneath her, almost forgetting about the spell. Before he let his hormones take over, he looked up just in time to see a cloud of fire coming towards them. He rolled them over just in time to save Lily from the flames, but he felt the skin on his back prickle with a burn. He looked up to see a red-headed Gryffindor playing dodge-the-fire with a dragon. Dennis Wesley, he should have known.

"Well if that's how you want it," said Lily, pulling the zipper to his robes down more as he was distracted with watching the dragon which was a little closer than he liked.

"Lily, maybe we should just," began James, taking her hand off of his robes. He got up and pulled her up beside him so they were both kneeling on the pitch grass.

"Ok, I'll go first if you're shy," said Lily, zipping her robes down. James' jaw dropped as he saw that Lily was wearing a small, low-cut white tank top and a short denim skirt beneath her robes. "Hmm, I wasn't wearing this before," mused Lily as she looked down at her outfit.

"Oh, Merlin, you're really not making it easy for me to be noble," James panted, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Then don't be," purred Lily, smiling impishly at James as she inched closer so they were pressed together.

"Sweet Merlin," James hissed.

"Oi, Prongs! Duck!" screamed Sirius' voice from behind him. James ducked and pulled Lily down beside him just as a sword chopped through the air above their heads. James looked up to see a Slytherin second-year sword fighting with a Gryffindor first-year.

"Thanks, Pads," said James as he pulled Lily up beside him. He walked her over to where Sirius was sitting on the edge of the pitch underneath one of the stands. He was lounging on a couch that he must have summoned. All he needed now was a mug of butterbeer and some food to be completely comfortable. James just rolled his eyes at Sirius as he sat beside his best mate.

"Enjoying this, are you, Prongs?" asked Sirius, smirking at James and winking at him.

"Not as much as you are," said James, shoving his shoulder playfully.

"Jamesie," said Lily as she sat down on his lap, running her hands through his messy jet black hair, "I just love your hair. It's so perfect." She nuzzled his neck with her face and placed little kisses all up and down his neck, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

Sirius snorted. "I seriously doubt that I'm enjoying this more than you, mate. Is this yours or hers?"

"What is he talking about Jamesie-bear?" asked Lily, shifting around to look at Sirius. When she turned Sirius' eyes bugged out for a second when he saw her outfit.

"Wow, Evans, you should dress like that every day," said Sirius, winking at her.

"Pads, that's my girlfriend you're talking to like that," said James, glaring at Sirius while simultaneously pulling Lily's robes snugly back around her and zipping them up to just under her throat.

"Relax, I'm just joking, Prongs. You're way too," began Sirius.

"Am I too serious?" asked James, chuckling.

"I'm going to go find someone whose fantasies include me," said Sirius, rolling his eyes at James as he rose from the couch.

"Just make sure to avoid the ones who fantasize about killing you," said James.

"Who would want to kill me? The world would be a very dull place without me," said Sirius.

"Can you go away now? I want James all to myself," said Lily as she began kissing him once again.

"You're welcome, Prongs," said Sirius as he walked off across the pitch.

"So, do you like the prank?" asked Peter who was hopping around excitedly in the Gryffindor stands as owl after owl arrived, dropping chocolate frogs in front of him.

"Sure," said Remus quietly as he picked up a card that Peter had dropped after shoving the frog into his mouth.

"It was really my idea, but Sirius stole it," said Peter around a mass of chocolate that was rolling around in his mouth.

"Very clever," said Remus, noting that the card was for Mungo Bonham, the founder of St. Mungo's. Of course that would be the card that he would pick up.

"I mean, I came up with the spell and everything," said Peter, still gnawing on the chocolate frogs in his mouth, nearly spraying Remus with his spittle as he spoke. "Padfoot and Prongs were pretty useless without you around, but don't worry, I kept it all together."

"Yeah, thanks," said Remus, not bothering to argue with Peter. All Peter ever wanted was to feel important, and why shouldn't he sometimes? James, but especially Sirius, was too hard on Peter, didn't understand what he needed.

"So what's yours? Has it happened yet?" asked Peter excitedly.

"Yeah, Wormtail, Moony fantasizes about listening to you yap on and on as you slobber all over him. I heard him mumbling about it in his sleep just last night," said Sirius as he walked up the stands toward them. Remus didn't miss the way Peter slumped a little into the bench and dropped his gaze to his pile of chocolate frogs.

"And what about you, Pads? You fantasize about teasing Peter?" asked Remus, looking up at Sirius.

"Moony, are you trying to crack a joke? I'll give you an A plus for effort, but your delivery needs work," said Sirius, "usually when you tell a joke, you're not supposed to be scowling."

"Leave Moony alone, will you?" asked Peter quietly to his chocolate frogs.

"Getting jealous, are you, Wormy? Don't worry, I save all my special teasing for you," said Sirius, pinching Peter's plump cheeks.

"Come on Sirius," said Remus, "leave Peter alone." Peter's cheeks reddened and after shoveling a bunch of his chocolate frogs into the pockets of his robes he scampered down the stands, making an excuse about having to check on something in their room.

"So, how's it going Moony, old pal?" asked Sirius, leaning back and resting the back of his head in his palms.

"You shouldn't be so mean to Peter, Sirius. He isn't like you, he isn't like James," said Remus, "he isn't an arrogant git who can handle all the teasing in the world. He needs friends who are more understanding."

"What he needs is his Mummy," said Sirius, "and I certainly will not be that for him."

"Sirius, you and James are going to regret it if you continue to torment Peter."

"Why? What is he going to do?" asked Sirius. "Is he going to attempt to glue the hangings around our beds shut like he did last time he got angry? He should learn to be careful about pulling pranks on the prank masters. I though he learned his lesson when we made his bed float on the lake and he woke up and took a nice swim."

"It's exactly things like that that make me worried. I think Peter is just going to snap one day. Anyway, it's not nice of you and James. Peter is our friend. We wouldn't be able to have our, er, moonlit strolls without him."

"Moony, Moony, we're supposed to be having fun. We're in the middle of one of the greatest pranks that we've ever done. Let's just enjoy watching it if we can't participate," said Sirius.

"So your fantasy can't come true either?" asked Remus, looking sadly over at Sirius.

"Well, even with a spell it's difficult to make out with all of the attractive girls at Hogwarts one after the other," said Sirius, grinning over at Moony.

"Please tell me you're not still trying to do that," groaned Remus.

"I only have a year left Moony, I have to get going. I'd say I still have about a dozen girls to snog," said Sirius.

"Thank Merlin James gave up on that idiotic scheme," said Remus, shaking his head.

"He only gave up on it because it didn't help him win over Evans," said Sirius. "She just continued to look at him in disgust whenever she came across him snogging a different girl."

"You like her, don't you?" asked Remus quietly. He had been suspecting it for a while, but hadn't mentioned it before.

"What? She's James' girlfriend. Of course I don't like her," said Sirius incredulously, running his hand through his hair.

"I wouldn't tell anyone if you did," said Remus.

"There's nothing to tell, Moony," said Sirius, "Evans is a bossy, stubborn, bloody irritating girl. Sure, she may not be bad to look at, but she causes way more trouble than I would care to deal with. Besides, even saying the word girlfriend gives me the chills."

"One day you'll find the right girl, and then you'll want her to be your girlfriend," said Remus.

"Probably not. I'll probably just want to snog her for a few days and then move on to the next one," said Sirius.

"Not when you meet your Hannah," said Remus quietly again. He looked down and saw that he had accidentally crushed the card he had been holding. He opened his grip and let the card flutter to the floor of the stands.

"Was that yours? Snogging Hannah?" asked Sirius.

"No, it was just seeing her walking towards me. It was just seeing her smile at me, knowing it was all for me. That's my fantasy," said Remus, "but it'll never happen."

"That's pathetic, mate," said Sirius, shuddering on purpose, "I may have to leave if you continue with the mushy stuff."

"It's ok, Pads, I know you feel the same way about Lily," said Remus.

"Moony," Sirius began to protest.

"Sirius, it's me, you know I notice everything," said Remus.

"You need to get glasses then, mate," said Sirius, "because you are not seeing what you think."

"Sirius! Will you stop and just admit the truth!" shouted Remus.

"Ok, ok, calm down, Moony. It's not even the full moon. Don't want you wolfing out in the middle of the stands," said Sirius.

"You're impossible, Padfoot. You do realize that, right?" asked Moony as he stood to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Sirius.

"I'll be in our dorm if you decide you want to confess anything," said Moony.

"And I'll be working my way through the girls of Hufflepuff if you decide to stop moping," said Sirius. He was smiling and his eyes were shining, so Moony didn't take any offense.

Lily felt a fire scorching through her bones as she kissed James. Her body had completely taken over, and she was no longer able to think clearly. She couldn't even feel any embarrassment at the fact that she was sitting on James' lap on a couch that was somehow at the side of the pitch. She couldn't feel any shame at the fact that she was kissing him deeply and was tangling her hands through his silky black hair. She felt a need to kiss him passionately, as she had done in many of her dreams over the past several weeks. Or, if she was honest with herself, she would say it had been over the past several years, even when she pretended to hate James.

"Lily," James sighed as he pulled away from her reluctantly.

"James?" Lily asked breathlessly, feeling a pleasant heat all over her body.

"None of this is real, Lily. Maybe we should stop," said James, trailing his hand over a strand of her hair, pushing it behind her ear.

"What do you mean, this isn't real?" asked Lily, feeling rejected. She slid off of James' lap and turned her head to take in the scene before her, but her eyes barely registered what they saw.

"This is part of a spell, Lily. The Marauders put a spell on everyone at the pitch to make them live out their fantasies. I just didn't realize that this would be yours," James trailed off.

"So you don't want to kiss me?" asked Lily quietly to her shoes.

"I didn't say that, love," said James, "I just don't want you to do anything you're not ready, we're not ready for. I love you, Lily, and I don't want to do anything that might ruin our relationship."

"Oh, James, I love you, too. But if this is my fantasy, then why wouldn't this be what I want?" asked Lily, turning back toward James with an impish grin on her face.

"I-I don't know," James stammered. Lily could see that he was trying to concentrate as her lips came towards him once again.

"Let's stop thinking and worrying about it. Let's just go where this fantasy takes us," said Lily, whispering in his ear.

"You don't have to tell me twice," said James teasingly as he scooped Lily onto his lap and resumed kissing her.

It had only been a few minutes of blissful kissing when James and Lily were distracted by loud music pulsing through the pitch. They broke apart and looked up to see a beaming Renwood dressed in a baby pink tutu and leotard, twirling through the air around the quidditch pitch and singing. All other movement and chaos in the pitch ceased as everyone stared at Renwood.

"**I am 16 going on 17, I know that I'm naïve. Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet, and willingly I believe,"** Renwood sang in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. James and Lily shook with laughter as they watched, but Renwood wasn't finished.** "I am 16 going on 17, innocent as a rose. Bachelor dandies, drinkers of brandies, what do I know of those?"**

"Clearly nothing," said Sirius as he walked over toward James and Lily, nearly falling over he was laughing so hard. "He's worse than you, James."

"**Totally unprepared am I to face a world of men. Timid and shy and scared am I of things beyond my ken," **continued Renwood, completely unaware of his audience. He was flapping the skirt of his tutu as he continued to twirl with pointed toes.

"I wonder who his Ken is?" snorted James.

"I think we might soon find out," said Lily, who knew the song very well, as her mother loved the musical and would watch it whenever she needed to be cheered up.

"**I need someone older and wiser telling me what to do." **The pitch was silent as Renwood drifted over toward the Slytherin stands.

"**You are 17 going on 18. I'll depend on you,"** sang Renwood sweetly as he threw himself at Snape.

Even from such a huge distance, Lily could see the blush on Snape's cheeks as he pushed Renwood off of him and rushed out of the stands.

"Masterful. This turned out better than I expected," chortled Sirius.

"The only question is, whose fantasy was that, Renwood's or Snape's?" asked James, grinning from ear to ear.

"Or it could be Sirius' fantasy," said Lily.

"Although I always love seeing Slytherins make fools of themselves, I promise you that I do not fantasize about Slytherin boys dancing around in tutus," said Sirius. "I'm way too busy fantasizing about the ladies of Hogwarts, and having my fantasies come true without a spell."

After several more minutes, the spell seemed to start wearing off. Slowly all of the magical creatures and objects vanished, and the students began shaking their heads in confusion. The pitch soon emptied, and James and Lily headed towards the changing rooms. Lily felt a blush wash over her cheeks as her clothing changed back into the comfy jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing before the spell was cast.

"James," Lily said as she came back to her senses.

"Lily, please don't be mad at me. It wasn't even my idea, and no one got hurt. We added into the spell that no one could get hurt," James offered soothingly.

"Mad? Why would I be mad? That was brilliant!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I think you need to lighten up a- wait, did you just say it was brilliant?" asked James.

"Of course. That was some really difficult magic. And it was hilarious. The Marauders should do more pranks like that," she said enthusiastically.

"Lily, if I didn't already love you, I would fall in love with you right now!" James said as he squeezed her in a hug. "Did you hear that, Padfoot? Lily loved the prank. She loves everything I do."

"I don't think I said that," said Lily, rolling her eyes at him.

"Shh! Lily. Let me just have this moment of gloating," said James. "I am proving to Sirius that I am not whipped."

"Well, alright, dear, but hurry up and get changed. I want to get to the castle soon so that you can give me my daily foot massage as you do my homework and cook me dinner," said Lily. "And after dinner I want you to try on another of my lipsticks so that I can see if I like the shade on a person."

"No, you're not whipped," said Sirius, barking a laugh.

"I have never tried on lipstick," James grunted.

"Whatever you say, dear," said Lily with a smirk on her face, "I'll wait for you outside."

Lily walked out into the chilly night and shivered. Without the sunshine it was too cold for her thin sweater. Lily gazed over the pitch, remembering all of the crazy things that had happened. Although she felt slightly embarrassed at her behavior, she realized that she probably did not need to worry about it. There had been too much chaos on the pitch for anyone to notice her lack of… propriety.

Lily was just about to turn back into the changing room to tell James to hurry when she felt a hand grab her arm and tug her to the side of the room behind some bushes.

"WHA-" Lily began, completely stunned to find herself falling sideways.

"Forgive me, Lily," said a husky male voice, "but all I could think about for the past hour was your lips."

A calloused finger reached up and traced over her lips as she tried to pull away. Another arm grabbed her and pulled her body against his tall and lanky body. Lily tried to pull away but she was held too tightly. She was gearing up to scream when soft lips descended on hers. A second into the kiss, Lily retracted her lips and bit the person. As her teeth came down on the lips, a curse escaped from the male's voice and he shoved her away from him. Lily's feet hit a root at the base of the bushes and fell backwards.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I shouldn't have done that. But you have to know that I'll always love you," said the voice. She heard the rustling of a cloak as the figure glided away.

Lily lay there a second, feeling her heartbeats slow down as she took deep breaths. The back of her head throbbed where it hit a rock. She was so shocked by the events that it took her a while to realize that she should get up.

"Lily, what are you doing?" asked James. He was standing above her, a curious look on his face.

"Someone just grabbed me and kissed me," said Lily, rubbing the back of her head.

"What?" James growled, "Who was it? I'm going to murder them!"

"I- I don't know," said Lily.

"Well, why are you on the ground?" asked James.

"I bit him and he pushed me back," said Lily.

"That's my girl!" said James proudly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I think so. My head feels funny," said Lily.

"Ooh, is she going to get all of her memories back now?" asked Sirius as he appeared from the changing rooms.

"I don't think it actually works that way in real life," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"That's too bad, Lily. If you had your memory back you would realize what a great catch you are missing out on by staying with this git," said Sirius, gesturing toward James.

"I'll take this git any day," said Lily. Lily allowed herself to be towed up by James. He wasted no time in pulling her close and kissing her forehead.

"Don't we have some celebrating to do?" asked James with a sexy smirk on his face.

"I believe we do," said Lily, returning his smile.

"And that's my cue to go puke in the bushes, see you both later," said Sirius.

* * *

Wow, so many questions! Who was the stranger who kissed Lily? How did Dumbledore learn how to dance? When did Hagrid fantasize about dancing with the giant squid? Ten points to anyone who can tell me what the bolded words come from without looking them up. Feel free to review and tell me I'm crazy. I wouldn't disagree with you. I would love any review. You could give it to me as a Christmas present...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a wonderful Christmas!

Love,

littlemisskrissy


	18. Chapter 18

AN: So this is officially the shortest chapter I've ever posted for this story. I was going to wait until the entire chapter was finished and post it all together, but thanks to all of your wonderful reviews, especially from BieberBeautiful1994, writetoexpress, and Tribot, I decided to post this little teaser first. Please check down at the bottom AN for important info about the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Reminder: I do not own Harry Potter. The only thing of value I own is a rusty old car. It's almost the same thing as a castle in Scotland, right?

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"Are you sure you're ok with going to the party tomorrow night?" James asked Lily as they lounged before the roaring fire in their common room. Books and rolls of parchment were fanned out around them as Lily had insisted that they really needed to get their Potions essay written that night.

"Why, do you not want me to go?" asked Lily, raising her eyebrows at him. James laughed as she turned her face towards him. She had black ink smudged over her cheek. Lily huffed at his laugh until he reached over to rub his thumb over the smudge. She smiled beamingly at him, nearly dazzling him.

"Well, we could just stay here instead. I'm sure we could find something to do," said James, smiling back at her.

"And miss the last Halloween party the Marauders' will throw at Hogwarts? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Lily teased, placing her palm against his forehead and frowning at him in mock-concentration.

"I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable," James admitted sheepishly. "It's a Halloween party. There will be some, er, scary things, and I don't want it to bother you after all that you've been through."

"That's sweet, James, but I'll be fine just so long as you didn't hire anyone to dress in a black robe and call himself the Professor," Lily said.

"Of course we didn't," promised James. "but are you sure you'll be ok?"

"As long as I can have you beside me, then I promise I will be more than ok," said Lily. She leaned across their books and parchments and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. James' smile broadened and he brushed his homework aside and pulled Lily closer.

"How about I promise you that I will spend all day with you and escort you to the party myself? If I promise that I will not leave your side the entire time?" asked James, whispering in her ear. Lily felt his hot breath tickle her ear and she felt herself move closer to him subconsciously until she was pressed up against him. James began kissing her neck, thoroughly distracting her from their conversation. She was about to agree when she remembered her earlier conversation with Carrie.

"O-oh, er," said Lily, successfully pulling back from her close embrace with James, "how about you promise to meet me outside the Gryffindor common room and escort me to the party?"

"Tomorrow's a Hogsmede weekend. I thought we would go together," said James, returning to his spot beside her ear, making it hard for Lily to concentrate.

"W-well, C-Carrie," Lily said, trailing off.

"Carrie?" James asked smugly, smirking into her neck as he enjoyed distracting her.

"Y-yes," said Lily.

"What about her?" asked James as he lightly trailed his fingers down her arm.

"S-stop it, J-James," said Lily, her voice a little too wispy to be commanding.

"Stop what, Lily?"

"C-can you just stop for a second? Let me finish my sentence?" asked Lily, unsure if it was exactly what she wanted.

"Alright," said James reluctantly, pulling back to look Lily in her intoxicating green eyes.

"Well, I promised Carrie that we would go into Hogsmede together and get ready for the party afterward. She's been so miserable since Hannah's been gone, and she has no one else to go with," explained Lily.

"You've been so nice to her, Lily, considering," began James.

"Considering?" Lily asked in confusion. She stared up at James and waited for an explanation.

"Considering that I want you all to myself," said James with a smirk. He had been about to tell Lily the truth about her relationship with Carrie. Lily really didn't deserve to be lied to by her best friend. But it wouldn't be right for James to tell Lily what Carrie had done, especially since he had really done the same thing. He hadn't told Lily the truth after she awoke from her coma, so he had no right to judge Carrie for pretending that they were the best of friends up until the accident.

"Well, you'll just have to deal with the fact that I am extremely popular and I must spread my time over my many friends," said Lily with an impish grin on her face.

"Maybe we could all have lunch together at the Three Broomsticks, then?" asked James.

"I'll ask Carrie when I see her," said Lily, "and now we'd better get back to our homework."

"No, no, Ms. Evans, that will never do," said James, flicking his wand and sending their homework zooming to their desks.

"And why is that Mr. Potter?" asked Lily.

"Well, Ms. Evans, I gave you a couple minutes to explain yourself, and now it's time to get back to where we were before you so rudely interrupted us," said James.

"Well, if you insist," said Lily, leaning towards him again and allowing him to wrap his arms around her back. He pulled her closer to him and as his lips descended to hers, she sighed, completely content to be nowhere else but in his arms.

* * *

AN: So, the contest to find the best Halloween costume for the boys in the story still stands. Please submit any ideas you have for costumes for James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter! I will pick the best ones, and the winners will receive a sneak preview of the next chapter! I am in the middle of writing the chapter, so it should be done this weekend. I will either PM or email the winners (according to their preference) the chapter a full half a week early a portion of the can tell me your preference in your response for how it can be sent to you. If you want it emailed to you, but do not want the whole world to know your email address, you can PM it to me after I contact you.

Thanks for being such awesome fanficers and putting up with all of my nonsense! I hope you all had a great Holiday season and a wonderful start to a new year.

Love to all,

Littlemisskrissy


	19. Chapter 19

AN: Sooo...Long time no see. Which is totally my fault. I would make some pretty lame excuses, but I'll just say I was busy. I really am sorry. I have about 2 months before I start Graduate School, so I'm hoping to get a lot of writing in. This chapter isn't actually finished, but I decided that it was getting really long and that I'd better post this and save the rest of this for the next chapter. Thank you to all of you have stuck with this story and put up with my sorry butt. I love you all! In case you are all wondering, no I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

Lily woke when a chill drifted across her bare stomach. She opened her eyes and laughed when she saw an obviously fake spider web dangling from the ceiling above her bed. Perched in the middle of the spider web was an orange spider ring. On closer inspection, Lily saw that the web spelled out "BOO!" This was clearly James' work, and Lily wondered when he had done it. They had both gone to sleep pretty late. Lily reached up and carefully picked the spider ring from the web.

As she held the spider in her hand and examined it more closely, a sudden memory came to her. She watched as James stood before the linen closet door in their bathroom and a spider ran out toward him. She felt herself laugh as he screamed and took several steps backward. On the last step, his foot wobbled on the edge of the tub, but he couldn't recover. He plunged into the water behind him, and Lily raised her wand, a spell on the tip of her tongue. As soon as the memory had sucked her in, it spit her back out, and she suddenly remembered that day's pranks. She came back to the present and put the spider ring on her ring finger and shuffled out to the bathroom, pleased that she had remembered another memory from her past.

James was still asleep after Lily quickly showered, after she finished dressing, and even after she spent a few seconds listening outside of his door. Finally, after a glance at the clock on the opposite wall, she snuck out of their common room. She was slightly disappointed that she hadn't been able to steal another kiss this morning, but she knew that she would have a lot of time to spend with him later at the party. It wasn't rational for her to be disappointed that James had wanted to sleep in a little longer.

Lily sat down at the Gryffindor table, not surprised to see that the Great Hall was so empty. The only table that seemed more crowded was the Ravenclaw table, but that was normal as well. Lily began absently filling her plate with eggs and toast as she thought over the new memory that she had so recently remembered. Perhaps she should try another prank sometime soon. She remembered how fun it had been the last time. When Carrie arrived ten minutes later, Lily was startled to see that she had dark circles under her eyes. Lily was just about to ask her what was wrong, when Carrie shot her a pleading look and shook her head. It wasn't hard for Lily to guess that Carrie didn't want to talk about whatever was wrong.

"So, what are we doing today?" asked Lily as she passed Carrie a tray of toast.

"I thought we could do some shopping in Hogsmede, maybe grab some lunch, and help each other get ready for the party," said Carrie, forcing a slight smile onto her lips as she nibbled at the corner of a dry piece of toast.

"Sounds perfect," said Lily.

"The only thing that could make it perfect would be if Hannah could come with us," said Carrie with a sad smile. Lily observed Carrie's sad expression and wondered if this was what had bothered Carrie when she walked into the Great Hall.

"Yeah, she should be here with us," agreed Lily, wishing that she remembered more of her friendship with Hannah from before the accident.

"Do you think she'll ever come back? Do you think she'll ever be ok again?" asked Carrie quietly to the wooden table. Lily and Carrie hadn't talked about Hannah since right after the attack on Hogsmede, even though the thoughts were swirling through the air whenever they spent time together. Each glaringly felt Hannah's absence whenever they laughed or teased each other.

"It's hard to know. No one knows what curse she was hit with," said Lily.

"But this can't just be it for her life. It's too cruel," said Carrie. She looked up at Lily, her eyes shiny, tears just beginning to bud over the center of her eyelids.

"She's better than both of us; she didn't deserve any of this," said Lily solemnly, feeling a piece of toast scratch all the way down her throat as she swallowed it.

"If she hasn't come back by next weekend, I'm going to St. Mungo's. I don't care if I get expelled," said Carrie forcefully.

"We'll both go," agreed Lily.

"Lily Evans doesn't care about getting expelled?" asked Carrie with amusement as she blinked away the tears in her eyes.

"I never said that. We just won't get caught sneaking out," said Lily as she smiled impishly back.

"I never thought I would see the day when you would start sounding like Potter. You have been spending way too much time together lately," said Carrie, rolling her eyes.

"Did we not spend as much time together before my accident?" asked Lily, suddenly filled with anxiety that she was being too clingy.

"You two barely spent any time," began Carrie.

"We barely spent any time apart from each other. It made our friends quite sick, but it made us happy, so we didn't care," said James as he sat down beside his girlfriend and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Wasn't that what you were going to say?" His gaze flicked quickly over to Carrie, his lips pressed together.

"_You took the words right out of my mouth_," said Carrie with an odd tone to her voice. Lily looked over at Carrie. "You know _I only speak the truth_."

"Right," said James. "So what are you and your _best friend_ Lily going to do today? She mentioned something about Hogsmede."

"Yes, and we were just about to leave. Come on, Lily," said Carrie. Without even looking at Lily, Carrie rose from the table and began stalking down the aisle to the doors.

"Just one second," Lily called after her friend.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" asked Lily quickly as she gathered her bag and shoved a few last bites of toast into her mouth.

"No clue. I'm still trying to figure you out half of the time," said James with a smirk on his lips.

"I think there's something wrong, James. She looked so tired and sad when she first came to breakfast," admitted Lily quietly, hoping that she wasn't betraying Carrie's confidence, not that she had been asked not to saying anything.

"I'm sure she just misses Hannah," said James.

"You're probably right. Well, I'd better go. See you tonight," said Lily, giving James a quick peck before she hurried out of the Great Hall to find Carrie. "Oh, and thanks for the ring," called Lily as she stood in the doorway and turned back to look at him, holding her hand up in the air. She turned back again and hurried from sight.

Even though they planned to meet early that morning, James wasn't surprised to see Sirius, Peter, and Remus slink into the Great Hall a half-hour after they had agreed to meet. Before Hannah's accident Remus would have been the first to arrive, but lately he had been almost as bad as Sirius about getting out of bed on time.

"Good morning, Padfoot," said James with a snigger as he took in his best mate's disheveled clothes and unruly hair. Sirius hadn't even attempted to comb his messy locks.

"Yeah, just bloody grand, James. Why are we meeting this early, anyway?" asked Sirius as he sunk into the bench on the opposite side of the table from James and rubbed his tired eyes.

"I seem to remember that this mangy mongrel came up with a brilliant idea for once in his life, and we agreed to meet early so that we could get the plan all set. Not to mention we still need to get all of the food and drinks."

"Oh, right, the drinks. Well, I guess I can sacrifice a few hours of sleep so that I can ensure we have a decent supply of firewhisky," said Sirius.

"And enough impressionable girls who will perhaps kiss you after they have consumed said firewhisky?" asked James.

"Well, of course James. Is there any other reason to hold a party?" asked Sirius, flicking some of the hair out of his eyes as he grinned mischievously.

"Just so long as you don't kiss Lily again," said Peter with an impish smile on his face until James and Sirius shot him a glare.

"Well, hurry up you gits, we need to get down to Hogsmede and work a little bit of magic so we can catch those Slytherins."

"Carrie? Wait a minute!" called Lily as she tried to catch up with her best friend. Carrie was hurrying across the lawn toward Hogsmede. She had her arms wrapped around her stomach and was staring straight ahead as if she was seeing something other than the lush green grass and the covering of crisp, fallen leaves. "Carrie!"

"What?" asked Carrie turning around and glaring at Lily.

"Sorry, I was just trying to get your attention. You seemed like you were far away," said Lily apologetically while she wondered if Carrie was always this moody.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I was just thinking," said Carrie guardedly.

"About what? Are you ok?" asked Lily despite the fact that she could tell that Carrie didn't want her to pry. She couldn't help it, though. Aside from the fact that she was naturally curious, Lily also just wanted to help Carrie. There was obviously something wrong.

"I don't know, Lily. But I really don't want to talk about it now. I just need a day to relax and not think, you know?" asked Carrie.

"Then that's what we'll have. What do you want to do?" asked Lily. They were just entering Hogsmede now, and Lily gazed around the main street, impressed by how it had been transformed for Halloween. There were cobwebs wrapped around each lamppost, with spiders hanging down and dropping in front of unsuspecting shoppers every few minutes. Ghosts glided above the pavement, banshees materialized and shrieked at whoever was in front of them, and black cloak-clad pale men hovered through the street and asked shoppers for a donation of blood.

"Ugh, let's go somewhere away from all of this," said Carrie, frowning at the decorations, "I hate Hogsmede on Halloween."

"I think it's cute," said Lily. As she turned to look at Carrie a cloak-clad man appeared beside her and smiled at her, his sharpened canines dripping red liquid.

"Can I interest you in a free blood test?" the cloaked apparition asked.

"I have a feeling if I said yes he'd be a pain in the neck," whispered Lily to Carrie, who just rolled her eyes.

"Well, it would have been a pleasure to eat you, my dears," said the vampire before he spun around and disappeared. A large bat rose in his place.

"Now do you see why I hate Halloween here? Way too many bad puns," said Carrie. "Let's get off the street before another overgrown bat who thinks he's sexy waltzes over here."

"Where do you want to go?" asked Lily, a smile on her face despite Carrie's annoyance. Lily found the atmosphere fun.

"Let's have a spa day. We can get a massage, a facial, a manicure, and a pedicure. It will be really girly and really relaxing," suggested Carrie. "And we'll get away from all these Halloween freaks."

"Ok, but afterwards let's get some ice scream," said Lily.

"Lily?"

"What?"

"Stop with the Halloween puns or I'll turn you into a giant jack-o-lantern."

"Fine, I don't want pumpkin pulp for brains, so let's go," Lily agreed.

"What took you so long?" griped James as Sirius and Peter wandered into the secret location for their party hovering several crates of firewhisky behind themselves.

"If you wanted it to go quicker you shouldn't have sent Wormtail with me. I had to pry a vampire from his neck after I had only been gone for a few minutes during which he was _supposed_ to be on the look-out," said Sirius pointedly to Peter whose whole face flushed a dark red.

"You really can't blame Wormtail. Those female vamps can be pretty seductive," said James, smirking in remembrance of previous Halloweens.

"Oh, well this vamp was tall, dark, and fully male," said Sirius.

"Wormtail let a male vampire suck his blood?" asked James. Sirius and James burst out laughing, and Peter's face turned an even deeper red color.

"She was not a male. She was just tall and had muscular biceps," said Peter defensively.

"S_he_ had an Adam's apple, Wormy," said Sirius.

"Now I wish I decided to go with you guys instead of looting the kitchens for food," said James regretfully.

"Don't worry, Prongs, I've already corked the memory. We'll borrow Dumbledore's pensive and have a look tomorrow," said Sirius with a growing mischievous grin.

"It was dark in the alleyway. You really can't blame me. His voice was very feminine," said Peter in agitation.

"Hey, you don't have to convince us. We are completely ok with your sexual preference, aren't we boys?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course you're ok with it. You and James are make a lovely couple," said Peter heatedly.

"Jealous, Wormy?" asked Sirius as he put his arm around James' shoulders.

"Get off me, Pads," said James, shoving Sirius away from him. "You know Moony is the only one I'd ever go for."

"And here I thought we had something special," said Sirius with a pout.

"Alright, that's enough," growled Remus from where he lounged on a cobweb chair, "if we're going to put a spell on all of the drinks we're going to need to start now. It needs to be complete before the sun sets if it's going to work."

"You're no fun anymore, Moony, has anyone told you that?" grumbled Sirius.

"Shut it, Pads," said James, smacking him in the back of the head.

Remus just rolled his eyes and grabbed a crate of firewhisky, breaking it open with his wand. A dozen bottles of firewhisky were nestled in the crate, and Remus began waving his wand over them in a figure eight motion muttering "Audiros susurrus."

"So what does the spell do again?" asked James as they began tearing the tops off of the rest of the crates so that Remus could cast the spell over them.

"This spell makes it so that whenever a Slytherin says "the Professor," "Death Eaters," "meeting," or "the Man in Black" we'll hear what they're saying. That way we can crash their meetings and know what they're planning," said Sirius.

"Brilliant. I'm still amazed that you came up with the idea," said James.

"Well believe it, Prongs. Behind these rugged good looks lurks a pure genius."

"Is that why you copy my homework all the time?" asked Remus.

"No, I copy your homework because I don't like to waste time that could be spent on a broomstick or with a girl bending over parchment and stopping every few minutes to measure it," said Sirius.

"Pads, are you ever going to grow up?" asked Remus.

"Not if I can help it," said Sirius with a wink.

"You just wait, Padfoot, one day your charm and your sly grin won't always be able to get you out of trouble," warned Remus.

"_If_ there comes a time when they can't get me out of trouble, I know you and Prongs will be there," said Sirius.

"Don't forget about me," said Peter.

"Oh, I didn't. You'll be there, I just wouldn't count on you to get me out of trouble. Or in trouble for that matter. You just don't have it in you."

"You wait, Pads, you're going to regret saying that one day," Peter warned.

"Sure I will," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Well, all the crates are open, and Moony is almost done with the spell. I think it's time to get ready for the party."

"Yeah, I've got a hot date that I need to pick up," said James, beaming at the thought of dancing with Lily. "You ok finishing up, Moony?"

"Yeah, you go ahead. It's not like I have a date to get ready for," said Remus. His head was ducked over one of the crates and he didn't look up as James approached.

"You want to talk, Remus?"

"Not really, Prongs. I'd rather finish this by myself. Besides, you don't want to keep Lily waiting. You've spent long enough pining over her. You should enjoy it now that she's finally dumb enough to go out with you," said Remus, shooting James a small smile before he ducked back over another crate.

"Alright, I'll see you later," said James, feeling guilty as he walked out of the cave and trudged back across the lawn to the castle.

"I have to say, I never understood the appeal of doing things the muggle way until today. Miguel's hands are way better than even the best wand work," said Carrie as they entered the Gryffindor common room. The sun was just starting to set and the girls were headed back after a long afternoon at the only muggle-style spa in Hogsmede. The common room was busy with students rushing back from Hogsmede to get ready for dinner and the party afterward.

"I know! Carlo's hands were wonderful. I can't remember a time when my muscles have ever felt so relaxed," said Lily with a sigh as she pulled open the door to Carrie's room.

"Well, to be fair, your memory is a bit unreliable," said Carrie.

"Hey!" said Lily in protest.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. It was supposed to be a joke," said Carrie.

"Carrie's jokes were never very funny," said a voice from the opposite side of the room. Lily and Carrie both looked up and froze, unable to believe what their eyes were seeing.

"Lily, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I don't know. Are you seeing Hannah? In a sexy Red Riding Hood costume?" asked Lily.

"I think so, but how can we be sure it's really her? The Hannah we know would never show that much skin," said Carrie.

"Oh shut up you two and get over here!" demanded Hannah with a beaming smile on her face.

"Hannah!" Lily and Carrie screamed as the rushed at their friend and threw their arms around her. The enthusiastic hug ended with all three girls toppling over and giggling on the floor with their limbs all tangled together. Hannah erupted in a coughing fit and the girls untangled themselves and sat calmly on the floor. Lily and Carrie looked on Hannah with concern until she stopped coughing and glared at them. Hannah always hated to be coddled.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lily.

"Do you want me to leave, then?" asked Hannah with an impish smile.

"Of course not. What Lily meant to say is that we're surprised to see you. The last we knew you were still unconscious."

"Ok, don't get mad, but I kind-of woke up a week ago," said Hannah quietly, bracing herself for the ire of her friends.

"A week ago!" shrieked Lily and Carrie at the same time.

"And you didn't think we'd want to know! Lily and I were all ready to sneak out of the castle to see you! We were so worried about you and you couldn't have just sent us a note by owl letting us know you were _alive_!" Carrie exploded.

"But I was still in recovery and I thought it would be better if I surprised you once I was released," explained Hannah quickly.

"I'm too happy that you're here to be mad at you now, but don't you ever do anything like this again, Hannah," Carrie said.

"Fine, I promise that the next time I am hit by an unknown curse that puts me in a coma and I'm taken to St. Mungo's I will write you the second I wake up," promised Hannah sincerely.

"Good, that's all we ask," said Lily.

"You guys are ridiculous," said Hannah, "but I missed you!"

"We missed you too," said Lily, "and speaking of missing, have you seen Remus yet?"

"No, I thought I would surprise him at the party," said Hannah shyly.

"Is that why you're in that costume?"asked Carrie.

"Do you think he'll like it? Is it too much? Do I look alright?" asked Hannah suddenly, turning to glance in the mirror.

"There's our Hannah," said Carrie, pinching her cheek, "Remus is going to be drooling, you look fabulous."

"You know I hate it when you do that," griped Hannah, rubbing her sore cheek.

"No you don't. You missed it," said Carrie.

"I can honestly tell you that's the one thing I did not miss," said Hannah.

"Keep pretending," said Carrie, "But it's time for Lily and me to get ready for the party, so you can just sit on the bed and tell us all about what happened after you woke up."

"There's really not much to tell. I woke up, they ran a ton of tests, I lay in bed for way too long, and then they cleared me to leave," explained Hannah as she sank into her bed, swinging her boot-clad feet so they were hanging over the edge.

"So did they figure out what curse the death eater used on you?" asked Lily as she ducked behind the bathroom door and changed into her costume.

"Er, yeah. He hit me with a curse-amplifying spell and then crucio'd me a few times. That's why it knocked me out for so long," said Hannah.

"Hmm, that's odd. It must have been a pretty strong amplifier. I got crucio'd a bunch of times on the same night and I only blacked out for a couple of hours," said Lily as she wriggled into the material of her dress.

"Yeah, it is odd," said Hannah as she played with a loose string on her red cloak.

"Well, we don't need to talk about it anymore right now. We're just glad you're back. It's been so dull here without you," said Carrie. "Lily and I got along and everything. Not one fight. It was very strange."

"Do we fight a lot?" asked Lily.

Hannah burst out in laughter again which subsided into another coughing fit.

"Are you feeling alright, Hannah?" Lily and Carrie asked anxiously as they hovered over her.

"I-I'm fine," said Hannah in a strained voice, "I'm just thirsty."

"Well, let's finish getting ready and head down to dinner. I'm getting pretty hungry myself."

Carrie quickly dressed in her Snow White costume as Lily put the finishing touches on her angel costume. Lily curled her hair with her wand and put half of it up on her head so that curls cascaded down her head in a slightly messy style. Carrie completely straightened her hair and gave herself some bangs for the night. Lily added glittery eye shadow and lip gloss, as well as a glitter charm to her skin, and Carrie just added some bright red lipstick which contrasted brilliantly with her creamy skin. They were just heading out the door when a tiny owl flew through the open window with a large letter tied to its foot.

"Oh, poor owl, I bet that letter's heavy for you," cooed Hannah as the owl landed on the windowsill beside her. "Who is this for?"

"It's mine," said Carrie, who pushed Hannah's hand out of the way and snatched the owl from the windowsill.

"Who's the letter from?" asked Hannah curiously.

"I-I'm not sure. Maybe my parents," said Carrie distractedly as she tore at the string binding the letter to the owl's foot.

"Oh, well do you want us to wait for you?" asked Lily.

"No, no, you guys go on ahead. I'll meet you at dinner," said Carrie as she collapsed onto her bed and tore open the letter.

"Ok, see you later," said Lily as they walked to the door, but Carrie didn't respond. She was completely focused on the letter in front of her.

"Well that was odd," said Hannah.

"Yeah, she's been acting weird all day, but she won't tell me anything," said Lily.

"I'm sure she'll tell us eventually. You know she has a big mouth."

"So, are you ready to see Remus?" asked Lily with a grin. They stood outside the bustling Great Hall, and Hannah had a nervous look on her face.

"Are you sure I look alright?" Hannah asked again.

"You look beautiful, but it wouldn't matter if you were wearing a paper bag over your head and a trash bag as a dress. That boy has been so miserable ever since you left. He is so in love with you he'll just be happy to see you just the way you are," said Lily.

"Thanks, Lily, that didn't make me nervous at all," said Hannah, as she wrung her hands and fiddled with her fingers.

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AN: SO I hope you enjoyed it! I should be posting the next chapter VERY soon. I am going to type it up right now! My goal is to be at least updating once a week if not more frequently. I basically have A LOT of free time right now, so feel free to badger me if I'm taking too long!

The next chapter WILL be the Halloween chapter. So there's still time to get in your suggestions for what costumes the boys should wear. I have Sirius and Peter all covered, but I would love suggestions for James and Remus. I will be PMing the winners with the next chapter by Wednesday and have the full chapter up on this cite by Thursday, if not earlier. This is my promise to you because you have all been so amazing! And I won't even ask for reviews for this chapter since I've taken so long to update, but just know that I have not given up on this story. I love it and want to finish it, but it may take me a while as we still have a ways to go. I plan to take the story all the way through the entire seventh year, so there's lots of time!

I love you all!

Littlemisskrissy


	20. Chapter 20

AN: Special thanks to Tribot and PhantomPotterGirl for the great ideas for costumes! You both rock!

Wow, it's 5:30 am here and I just finished this so if there are typos/grammar mistakes I am not surprised, but I do apologize for them! I really got into writing this chapter even though I felt somewhat strange listening to Halloween music and writing a Halloween chapter in May, so I just couldn't sleep until I finished it. It is super long, and I am super tired so I'll just keep this short. I'm sure you all would rather read the chapter than what I have to say here anyway. Enjoy!

Oh, and by the way, I don't own Harry Potter. I just use writing fanfiction as an excuse to stay up ridiculously late. I really hope that's not the sunrise I'm starting to see.

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"Oh yeah, who's a sexy pirate?" asked Sirius as he smirked in the mirror. He roved an approving eye up and down his scarcely clad body. His ruffled white shirt was open to just above his belly button, his black pants were tight and clinging to his muscular legs, and a red bandana was tied around his head. "I think I'm ready for a little booty."

"Can you stop staring at yourself in the mirror for one minute? Some other people want to use it," complained Peter from behind Sirius. They were in their dorm room getting ready to make an appearance at dinner and Sirius had been staring at himself in the mirror for the past fifteen minutes.

"And what are you supposed to be?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow at Peter, who was dressed in a long black robe.

"I'm a dementor, see?" he asked as he pulled the hood over his face. "I may just have to kiss a few naughty girls."

"I applaud you for finding a costume that will cover your face, that can only help you with the ladies, but why would any girl want to kiss a dementor? Wouldn't they run the other way?" asked Sirius. "You're kind-of making it even harder for yourself, because the ladies will finally make the connection that kissing you would be a fate worse than death."

"Maybe if you were wearing this costume girls would run the other way. I, however, won't have any problem with them. In fact, they'll be begging me for a kiss," said Peter arrogantly as he stood up taller.

"You know it doesn't count if you use the imperious curse on them first, right?" asked Sirius.

"Oh shut up, Padfoot. For someone who talks so much about how the ladies love you, I haven't seen you kissing any girls lately," said Peter.

"How long has it been since the last time you tricked a girl into kissing you? About seventeen years?" asked Sirius.

"Are you two still arguing?" asked Remus as he entered the dorm. "I will banish both of you from this room if you don't shut up."

"Ah, Moony, all finished?" asked Sirius.

"Yes, it's all ready. Now all you have to do is make sure every Slytherin takes a sip of firewhisky," said Remus as he drew back the curtains from around his bed and collapsed in a heap in the middle of it.

"What are you doing, Moony? Aren't you going to get ready?" asked Peter.

"I don't know. I don't really feel like going to the party tonight," admitted Remus quietly, aware of how angry the admission was going to make Sirius.

"Not go! You can't not go to our last Halloween party at Hogwarts! It's un-Marauder of you!" said Sirius in an appalled tone.

"I'm not really feeling like much of a Marauder right now," said Moony sulkily to his red comforter.

"Mate, you need to snap out of it! This is pathetic! I know you're upset about Hannah, but it's not healthy to pine after a girl so much! Look at Prongs!" said Sirius.

"You don't know anything, Pads. I'm in love with that girl," said Remus.

"Oh no you bloody don't. Get that L-word out of your brain. There'll be none of that tonight. I will drag your sorry butt out of bed and transfigure your clothes into whatever the bloody hell I want if you don't get up and start getting ready yourself. I will not let you sit here and mope about some girl! Now get in the shower right now!" roared Sirius.

"I think he popped a blood vessel in a forehead. Way to go Moony," said James who had just entered the room in the middle of Sirius's impassioned speech.

"You better remember that the next time you start moaning about Lily," said Sirius as he turned back toward the mirror and fiddled with the bandana on his head.

"Duly noted," said James, rolling his eye s at his best friend.

"Well, I'm not waiting any more for Moony. I'm hungry and the Halloween feast is my favorite," said Sirius, "But he better be down at dinner in TEN MINUTES or I will come back up here!" he bellowed through the door. "Coming Prongs?"

"I'm only saying yes because I'm afraid of what might happen if I say no," said James.

"That's right. You will fear and tremble before me, the Dread Pirate Sirius. I take no prisoners. Unless they give me access to their precious jewels," said Sirius.

"Sorry, mate, all of mine have Lily's name written all over them," said James.

"And that is why you are pathetic," said Sirius as he swung open the door and hopped up onto the banister. He slid down the banister on his feet, jumping off and tumbling to the ground at the end. "And I am just too damn sexy for you."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon," said Lily as she caught Hannah glancing toward the door to the Great Hall once again. "You know the Marauders, they take longer to get ready than any girl I know."

"Oh, I was just looking for Carrie, I don't know why you would mention the Marauders," said Hannah, a faint blush coming over her cheeks.

"Did someone say Marauders?" asked Sirius as he sat down across the table from Hannah and Lily.

"Hi angel," whispered a voice at her ear as arms came around her and pulled her close to a warm body. Lily shivered as his warm breath came in contact with her bare neck.

"Hi James," said Lily, beaming as she turned to take in his appearance. He was wearing tight black pants, a black shirt that was buttoned only halfway up, and a black leather cloak. He had also used a spell to grow his hair so that it now just reached his shoulders.

"Just call me Van Helsing," said James in a husky, sexy voice.

"Well, Van Helsing, I love your hair like this," said Lily, running her hand through his soft hair.

"You look heavenly," said James.

"Lily, are you going to introduce me to your friend?" asked Sirius, interrupting the romantic moment between Lily and James. He barely looked up at the girls as he piled his plate with food.

"Er, sure, Sirius. This is my friend Hannah, whom you've known for the past six years," said Lily in a teasing tone.

"Hannah? Moony's Hannah?" asked Sirius, finally looking up from the mountain of food piled on his plate.

"Well, I wouldn't say," began Hannah, blushing again.

"Hannah!" said Sirius as he leaped over the table and pulled her into a hug. "I am so glad you're ok! Now Moony will stop being so pathetic and he might let me start copying his homework again!"

"Well, I guess you're welcome, then," said Hannah as she pushed Sirius away from her. He was pecking her cheeks all over and she was getting uncomfortable as she noticed that several people were watching them.

"Sirius, found a new girl to slobber all over?" asked a disapproving voice from behind Hannah. Hannah froze, recognizing the voice instantly. In her mind she heard him whisper sweet, heartbroken words to her, but she didn't know if they were simply a dream or if they had actually been spoken by Remus.

"This is great. Now I get to make the reintroductions and he'll be so happy that I've reunited both of you that he'll have to let me copy his potions essay," said Sirius with a gigantic smirk on his face.

"What are you talking about Padfoot?" asked Remus as he narrowed his eyes at his friend and came a bit closer. Hannah was still frozen, both anticipating and dreading the moment when their eyes would finally meet again. She knew that this moment was pivotal. When she turned around Remus would either be ecstatic or indifferent. If he was indifferent she didn't know if she could take it. She would be devastated.

"Remus, old friend, I would like you to say hello to someone you might know who has recently returned to Hogwarts," said Sirius. He clamped his hands on Hannah's shoulders and slowly turned her around.

Hannah kept her eyes on her feet for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Remus' scuffed trainers. There was a great silence that seemed to cut through the noise in the Great Hall, and all Hannah could hear was her blood pulsing in her eardrums. Slowly Hannah peered up through her eyelashes, gazing up Remus' body until her eyes met his shocked blue irises.

"Hannah?" he whispered in a quiet voice as he looked her all over, taking in every inch of her body.

"Hi, Remus," said Hannah shyly, also in a quiet voice. Time itself felt like it was paused as they stared at each other, a million thoughts running through both of their heads.

"So, are they just going to stand there looking like idiots all night?" asked Sirius in a loud whisper. "Wait, Remus, where's your costume? You cannot go to our party without a costume!"

"Shut it, Black," said Lily as she smacked him in the back of the head, "You are about as romantic as a pile of dung. If you ruin this for them I will personally make sure that no girl kisses you for the rest of the school year."

"Well, you can try, but as persuasive as you are, I don't think you'll be able to convince them. You see, I'm irresistible," said Sirius.

"Black, how irresistible do you think you'll be once I tell all of the girls about your bet to kiss all of the attractive girls before graduation day?" asked Lily threateningly.

"James, you didn't tell her!" said Sirius in a betrayed tone.

"Sorry, mate, Lily and I talk about everything," said James.

"Well, I have lost my appetite! I am just going to take this plate of pumpkin pasties and leave! I can tell when I'm not wanted!" Sirius bellowed. "Well, maybe I'll grab some turkey for the road. I have a lot of girls to kiss tonight and I don't want to be low on energy. But now I am leaving and I hope you all feel bad about how I was betrayed!" Sirius said in a wounded tone as he began to turn around. "You know what? Maybe I'll grab a few rolls before I go, you know the houselves make some lovely rolls. But now I will take my meager meal and go elsewhere, away from those who have wounded me so." Sirius once again began to turn towards the doors, but he stopped midway through and turned back toward the table. "But really, what are rolls without butter and some marmalade. You know I love marmalade. It's such a pretty color, and so tasty! There is nothing on earth as good as marmalade on a warm roll! But now I'm going! I can tell you I am truly distraught over your treatment of me! I thought you were my friends. Well, adieu! I wish we could part of much better terms, but alas, it is not within my power!" Sirius had just barely turned his head to the door when he whipped it back toward the table. "Oh, is that treacle I spy with my little eye? Hmm, you can't have a balanced meal without treacle. The only useful thing my mother ever said to me was to never waste good treacle, you know. So maybe I should cut myself a slice-"

"Sirius?" said Lily in a sharp tone.  
Sirius looked over at Lily. He was balancing plates and bits of food precariously in his arms, with a quasi-innocent look on his face. "Was there something you wanted to say to me, Lily dearest?"

"Yeah, if you sit down and shut up I'll forget this ever happened and I'll forget all about your moronic bet," said Lily.

"Well, it's not a gracious apology, but I guess I'll just have to be the bigger person and just accept," said Sirius.

"Now, shh! Let Hannah and Remus get back to their romantic reunion," said James. Lily, Peter, and James all turned to stare at Remus and Hannah, who both blushed.

"But James," began Sirius.

"Shut up, Padfoot!" hissed James.

"James," said Sirius again.

"Pads, not now!" said James.

"Jamesie?" said Sirius again.

"What do you want?" exploded James as he turned just in time to see Sirius drop all of the plates he was holding. The pumpkin pasties went skittering all over the floor, hunks of turkey flew over the tabletops, a few rolls landed in several drinks, knocking them over, the dish full of marmalade flew over Sirius' head, dropping a huge glob on the center of his head, and mini treacle tarts rained down from the ceiling.

"I think I'm going to drop the plates," said Sirius in a defeated tone as marmalade dripped down his face. "Mmm, I do love marmalade."

A stunned silence fell over the Great Hall as all eyes were focused on Sirius and the mess he'd created. The professors at the staff table half rose from their chairs, staring at the mess but too stunned to think of what to do. Dumbledore had a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he covered his mouth with his napkin. Had it not been for McGonagall's stern glare Dumbledore probably would have been chuckling. And had it not been for Peeves' entry into the Great Hall and his subsequent incitation of a food fight, McGonagall would have descended upon Sirius to hand out a detention.

Hannah watched all of this chaos with a stunned, though ecstatic feeling. She was so glad to be back at Hogwarts, where anything could, and usually did, happen thanks to the Marauders. Though she had been nervous about how people would treat her when she returned from St. Mungo's, she had found that everything had gone back to normal. The only person who still made her nervous was Remus. Although he had looked happy to see her when she'd first seen him, he hadn't really said anything to her yet. She had hoped that there would be something between them during her week of recovery. She had thought of little else during her monotonous hours in the hospital. But maybe he didn't think of her the same way. Maybe he just wanted to be friends.

While the rest of the room was still focused on the food being hurled by the unruly poltergeist, Hannah turned back to Remus and caught him watching her. He blushed as he caught her gaze, and then he looked away. As she took in his shy expression, Hannah realized that she would have to be the one to make the first move. If she didn't, they would both continue to stand there like idiots in such a tense, uncomfortable moment. She would just have to get over her nerves and tell him how she felt. Hannah was just about to say something when Remus glanced up at her and smiled shyly.

"Hannah, I-It's good to see you. I'm really glad you're alright. If you'll excuse me," said Remus in a flustered tone. Before Hannah could say anything Remus had turned and hurried out of the Great Hall. Hannah stood and stared after him for a few seconds before she turned back to the table and sank down onto the bench. As food flew around above her head and all around her she sat numbly at the table. All she could think about was the way Remus had fled the Great Hall. He had run away from her, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. What had she done? Had she ruined everything between them, or was there nothing there from the beginning?

Hannah rose from the table and quietly walked towards the exit herself. She kept herself composed as she walked down the aisle to the door, only ducking when she saw food flying towards her. No one noticed as she exited the Hall, no one came after her. It was almost as if she had never returned at all. She felt like a ghost as she ascended the stairs to the seventh floor, as she walked down floor after floor of empty corridors. She felt tears trickle down her cheeks as soon as she realized there was no one around. Several of the paintings called out to her as she waltzed past them, asking if she was alright, but she ignored them. When she arrived at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy she paced the wall before the entrance to the Room of Requirement thinking only of a place to curl up and let out all of her despair. Once the door appeared she rushed into the room. She collapsed in tears on the couch once she took in the familiar room that she and Remus had used several times. Books lined the shelves, a comfy couch sat in the middle, and a roaring fire sat before the couch. Hannah lay on her stomach across the couch and finally let all of her frustration and disappointment escape.

"Have you seen Hannah?" asked Lily. McGonagall had just broken up the food fight and had instructed all of the students to get out of her sight. There was a swarm of students exiting the Great Hall and Lily couldn't see Hannah anywhere.

"No, I haven't seen her since before the food fight," said James, "but she must be with Remus. I don't see him either."

"I donght finks shehs wivth im," said Peter as he bit into a chicken leg, juices dripping down his chin.

"Ugh, you can't take Wormy anywhere. Your eating habits are truly disgusting, mate," said Sirius, who was covered in mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and every other food imaginable.

"Pads, you probably shouldn't ever comment on anyone else's sloppy eating habits," advised James as he flicked some pudding off of his leather cloak.

"I've never felt so gross in my entire life. I think I need to go back to our dorm to clean up. I don't think a cleaning charm will be enough," said Lily as she ran her fingers over her now food-coated hair.

"I think I'll join you, Lily," said James, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't," said Sirius, winking at them.

"Wait, you guys distracted me. Did anyone see Hannah?" asked Lily, once again scanning the crowd exiting the Great Hall.

"She ran out of the Hall shortly after Remus left," said Peter.

"Wait, why did Remus leave?" asked James.

"Well, how should I know? I just saw them talk for a minute, he looked all nervous, and then he ran out. Hannah looked kinda weird, she sat down at the table for a bit, and then she walked out," said Peter.

"How did you see all of this? And how are you so clean?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"Well, I didn't want to get my costume ruined," said Peter defensively.

"You didn't," said Sirius in shock.

"And I was really hungry," said Peter.

"You hid under the table?" asked Sirius.

"I wasn't hiding. I just ducked under it for a little bit," said Peter.

"Wormy, you are supposed to be a Marauder! Marauders do NOT hide under the table when there's a food fight going on! Marauders fight for the glory! They stand proudly amidst the chaos and do their very best to make the fight as memorable as possible! I mean, did you see when I leaped up onto the staff table and rained mashed potatoes down on all of the professors? I may get detention for the next month because of it, especially because I think I got some caked into McGonagall's bun, but I went for it. I am pretty sure everyone will never forget that moment as the mashed potatoes smashed into her face and her eyes bugged out of her head and she screamed "SIRIUS BLACK" at the top of her lungs," said Sirius, looking very pleased with himself.

"Or afterward as you dodged her hexes as you jumped from table to table," said James, chuckling himself.

"I have to say, I am just shocked that she would actually try to attack a student, especially her favorite student," said Sirius in a mock-disparaging tone.

"Will you all stop talking? Something's wrong with Hannah and Remus, and it's up to us to figure out what it is and fix it," said Lily.

"Oh no, you are not going to turn me into some sappy matchmaker. Tonight is Halloween, and we have to get to our party. Let Moony mope if he wants to, I'm sick of trying to get him to snap out of it," said Sirius.

"It's ok, Lily. I'll go talk to Remus. Sirius can go get everything ready for the party, and you can find Hannah. Sirius, give Lily your mirror. Lily, after you've talked to Hannah contact me with your mirror. We'll meet up and go to the party together. I'll see you later," said James, pecking her on the cheek before he rushed off to the Gryffindor boys' dorm, expecting Remus to be holed up in his bed.

"Hey, what about me?" asked Peter as everyone else rushed off.

"Oh, come on Wormtail. You can help me get the drinks ready," said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

"REMUS!" James bellowed as he entered the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dormitory.

"Go away, James," said Remus quietly.

"Un-Uh, I will not. Not until you tell me what the bloody hell happened," said James as he ripped the curtains around Remus' bed apart.

"It's not your problem, James. Just leave me alone," said Remus, "I'm sure you want to get back to Lily."

"You're right, mate, I do want to get back to Lily. But I've got a problem. You see, she had to go after Hannah who ran out of the Great Hall after you walked away from her. So I need to know what happened so that I can help Lily fix whatever happened, preferably before the night is over so I can enjoy some time with my girlfriend," said James.

"Hannah was upset?" asked Remus, lifting his head up to look at James.

"I didn't see her leave, but I assume she was if Peter saw her run out of the Great Hall," said James.

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot," said Remus as he pushed the hair out of his face in a very Sirius-ish manner.

"Yeah, you are. Now tell me what you did and why you did it, and I'll fix everything," said James. He sat down on the edge of the bed and waited not quite patiently for Remus to begin.

"I just choked, James. I started thinking about when she got hurt, and about all of my worries that her life would be ruined by going out with me, and how we can't have a future so why start anything, and how incredibly beautiful she looked, and how much I had missed her, and how I loved her so much and was so grateful that she was alright and back here that I couldn't say anything. I'm sure she thought I was a moron, staring at her like that without saying anything. So I finally just told her that I was glad she was back and practically ran out of the Great Hall," said Remus in a frustrated tone.

"Oh, wow. Er, ok, let's see. How do we fix this?" asked James, messing his hair up, a habit that meant he was thinking hard. "Well, I think we have to find her and sort this all out. You have to grow a backbone and just tell her how you feel, Moony."

"How can I tell her how I feel and open her up to tell me how she feels when she doesn't know the truth about me?" asked Remus.

"Well, the way I see it, there are only two options, Moony. You can either tell her how you feel and keep your secret, or you can trust her and tell her your secret. I don't think that it's a good idea to just not tell her how you feel unless you want to cut her completely out of your life. When you love someone like you love Hannah it's really hard to be just friends with them," said James, smiling sadly.

"What do you think I should do?" asked Remus, biting a fingernail.

"Honestly, Moony, I'm not sure if I should tell you what you should do, but as your friend, I would advise you to tell the truth. It's also hard to be in a relationship with someone you love when it's all based on lies," said James.

"You're talking about Lily?" asked Remus.

"Yeah. I feel really guilty that the only reason she's going out with me is because I lied to her, but I don't want to lose her either," said James. "So I think you should tell Hannah your secret. From what Lily's told me about her, you can trust her to keep your secret even if things don't work out."

"Maybe we should both tell the truth," suggested Remus.

"She's going to hate me if I tell her I lied to her, Remus," said James.

"Maybe she won't. Anyone can see how much she loves you. Maybe she'll just be glad you told her before she found out," said Remus.

"Maybe," said James.

"That's it, we'll make a promise right now that we'll both tell the truth," said Remus, rising from the bed.

"Alright, we'll both tell the truth," said James, taking a shaky breath.

"Great, now let's find Hannah and Lily. I have a feeling I know where Hannah went," said Remus, rising from the bed with a new determination.

Lily decided to check the girls' dormitory first in the hopes that Hannah would have returned there to find Carrie. When she entered the dormitory, however, it was empty. She wondered where Carrie had gone; she hadn't seen her in the Great Hall. After she looked in the bathroom and determined that no one was in there either, she exited the Gryffindor common room and decided to search through all of the girls' bathrooms starting with the one closest to the Great Hall. The search was slow and Lily was having no luck. Lily had loved the mystery that came with the vastness of the castle ever since she first arrived, but now that she was looking for someone it was just annoying.

"Where are you Hannah?" Lily asked in frustration after she exited the fourth bathroom she had checked. At this rate she would be searching for the rest of the night. The castle was pretty empty and Lily suspected that most people had wandered to whatever secret location the Marauders' party was held in. Every student in the castle had received an invitation to the party that revealed the location of the party as soon as it started. It was a pretty impressive bit of magic, actually. If anyone besides the intended recipient looked at the invitation it would look like a scrap bit of parchment. James had explained that there was also a tongue tying jinx that went along with the parchment so that no one could talk about the location, or even the existence of a party. That ensured that no staff or faculty would be able to break the party up. Of course, the faculty knew that the party was happening, but they couldn't stop it. Lily suspected that Dumbledore could have done something about it if he wanted to, but luckily the headmaster had a much more developed sense of humor than most of the other staff members.

"Lily?" asked a voice from behind her.

Lily whirled around, suddenly realizing how vulnerable she was in an empty corridor on the third floor. She hadn't seen anyone else in ages. When she turned around she saw a figure emerge from the shadows. It was tall, with dark hair, and a rather large nose.

"Snape, what are you doing here?" asked Lily sharply.

"I certainly don't have to tell you that," said Severus in a cold voice.

"Actually, if you haven't forgotten, I'm the Head Girl," said Lily.

"So? I'm not breaking any rules by walking down a corridor at eight o'clock, am I?" asked Severus.

"No, but by the look on your face I can see that you're up to something that would break the rules," said Lily, eyeing him up and down before she scanned the corridor behind him.

"Why don't you run along back to your boyfriend, Evans? Have you forgotten what happened the last time you wandered down empty corridors by yourself?" asked Severus. He peered behind him through the dark corridors before looking back at her.

"Why, are you and your friends going to try to jump me again?" asked Lily, reaching her hand into her clutch to pull out her wand with a shaky hand.

"You want to be very careful, Evans. You're not as safe in this castle as you'd like to think. I'd hate to see something to you," said Severus in a fierce voice.

"Are you threatening me, Snape? Are you going to hex me yourself?" asked Lily in incredulity.

"No, of course not, Lily. In case you don't remember, I risked my neck to save you from the professor in the tunnel to Honeydukes. I would never hurt you," said Severus, his tone beginning as a hiss and ending tenderly. He reached a hand out and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Don't you touch me, Snape," said Lily, batting his hand away from her.

"So nothing I do could ever redeem me in your eyes? I will always be an evil Death Eater to you?" asked Severus. "You will only ever think of me with contempt?"

"Severus, I didn't want things to turn out this way. I didn't want you to become a Death Eater. If you would just turn your back on them, if you would help us fight against them, then we could be friends again. I know that deep inside of you there is a good man, but each decision that you make, each decision that brings you closer to the Dark Lord, shrinks the good person I knew. Won't you let me help you?" asked Lily.

"You can't help me, Lily. I can't turn my back on them. It's too late. They'd kill me, and not even Dumbledore could stop them. But tell me one thing," said Severus, moving closer to Lily until they were mere inches apart. "If things were different, if I had never joined the Death Eaters, would you ever choose me over Potter? Would you ever consider being with me?"

The question hung in the empty corridor. Lily stared into the eyes that still held a bit of warmth. She tried to think clearly about what might have happened between them in an alternate universe where he wasn't descended from a long line of Slytherins, if she wasn't a muggle-born, if Voldemort hadn't come to power and started his campaign of hatred, if Severus hadn't been caught in the tide of Death Eaters, if she hadn't fallen in love with James. But there were way too many ifs, and Lily couldn't even imagine a universe where she wasn't in love with James. As soon as she thought about it, though, she saw Severus' eyes turn cold. She knew he was gifted at legilimency and wondered if he had tapped into her mind or if her eyes had given everything away.

"Severus," said Lily quietly.

"No, don't say anything," barked Severus.

"I'll always be grateful that you saved me, Sev," said Lily, using the nickname she had said so often in their childhood, "and I'll always remember that there is some good in you. Try to remember that."

"Oh, you still think there's good in me, do you?" asked Severus, a coldness coming over his face. "Would a good man do this?" he asked as he cast a silent petrificus totalus spell that pinned her to the wall. "Would he pin you to a wall and steal a kiss that you would never give of your free will?" asked Severus as he caressed her frozen cheek, lowered his mouth down to hers, and then released the spell just before his lips touched hers.

Lily was so stunned by the events that it took her a minute to realize that she had been released. Severus pulled her in towards him and tried to deepen the kiss, but Lily pushed against him as hard as she could and he stumbled backwards. She clattered to the floor beside him and scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could.

"So that's it? You want to be evil?" asked Lily, staring at him as tears clouded her vision. "You want to hate and fight and steal? You wanted to prove to me that you're not a good person? Congratulations. I'll never make the mistake of thinking you're a good person ever again."

"Evans, I'm," began Severus as he got up from lying in the middle of the corridor floor.

"What could you _possibly_ say after what you just did?" asked Lily.

"There's nothing I can say to make it right, but I don't regret what I did. Maybe that makes me evil. But at least now I know what it's like to kiss you. I've wanted to kiss you for such a long time," said Severus.

"You're pathetic!" hurled Lily. "I should hex you right now-"

"Severus," called a voice from further down the corridor.

"Lily, you need to go," said Severus with a panicked look on his face.

"Don't you call me that! We are not friends, Snape!" Lily said angrily.

"Evans, you need to get out of here right now. I'm not kidding," said Severus in a warning tone.

"Why should I? Maybe I should just stick around and see what you're up to," suggested Lily.

"Evans, the Professor is on his way here right now. He'd love nothing more than to find you here in an empty corridor by yourself," said Severus, "Please, just go."

"The Professor?" asked Lily, feeling her body begin to shake.

"Yes, Evans. I can't protect you. Go, now," said Severus.

Lily turned and ran away from Severus and the approaching Death Eaters. She ran as fast as she could while remaining fairly silent. Her heart was beating erratically as she ran up a flight of stairs, all of her thoughts focused on the Professor. Once she was up the flight of stairs she began moving as quickly as she could without worrying about how much noise she was making. Once she had reached the Heads Common room, the only place she would feel safe, she collapsed on the couch and began crying. She couldn't stop thinking about the terror and anger she had felt when Severus had stolen the kiss from her, and when she had heard that the Professor would be coming.

When Lily heard a voice from her beaded clutch she nearly screamed. When the voice called her name again, she recognized the voice as James' and she quickly pulled the mirror out, relieved to see James' face.

"Lily," said James again.

"James," said Lily in a shaky voice. She cursed herself for not making sure she was looking alright and that her voice sounded alright. She wasn't sure that she wanted to tell James what had happened with Severus.

"Oh, Lily, where are you?" asked James.

"I'm in our common room. I couldn't find Hannah," said Lily, suddenly remembering her search for Hannah.

"That's alright. We found her. Remus is talking with her right now, and I think it's a bit of a private conversation. I'll come find you and then we can head to the party," said James. Lily could see that the background was moving behind him.

"That's really good about Remus and Hannah. I hope they can work everything out," said Lily.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. By the looks of things they'll be kissing within the hour," said James. "It got a bit uncomfortable being in the same room with them."

"Yeah, I can imagine," said Lily quietly.

"Hey, you," said James as he pushed the door to their common room open.

"James," said Lily as she rose from the couch and ran over to him. She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. She tried to keep everything together, but she couldn't stop a few tears from trickling down her face.

"Are you ok, Lily?" asked James as he pulled back from her and tried to look her in the eyes. She kept her eyes lowered.

"Sure, fine," she said quietly.

"Lily, what's wrong?" asked James.

"I really don't want to talk about it right now, James. I just want to go to the party and have a good time," said Lily, finally looking him in the eye.

"Are you sure? I don't care about the party, Lily. I care about you," said James.

"Yeah, I want to go, just let me get cleaned up a bit and then we can head to the party," said Lily.

"Ok, but we'll talk tomorrow," said James nervously.

"Tomorrow," said Lily as she hurried to her room and cast a quick silencing charm before allowing herself a few minutes to cry.

Remus and James had hurried to the Room of Requirement after their short talk. Remus paced before the wall and when he opened the door he was relieved to see that Hannah was inside of it. He was relieved, that is, until he saw that she was crying. He had really messed up with her yet again.

"Hannah?" Remus said quietly as he walked towards her.

"What are you doing here?" Hannah asked. She wiped her eyes and sat up, but she refused to meet Remus' eyes.

"Hannah, I'm so sorry for how I acted back in the Great Hall. I, well, I really have no excuse for how I treated you except that I was so nervous about talking to you that I couldn't think of what to say," said Remus.

"You were nervous about talking to me? Why would you be nervous, Remus?" asked Hannah.

"Well, because I've been thinking about you non-stop since the attack. If I'm being honest, I've been thinking about you for years before all of that, and I wanted to tell you all of that, about my feelings and thoughts, when I saw you, but I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same, and then you were standing in front of me and I was so glad to see you, and so relieved that you were alright, and I missed you so much while you were gone, and I'm rambling like a blithering idiot," said Remus uncomfortably as she rubbed the back of his head.

"That's what you were nervous about? Remus, that's silly," said Hannah, laughing as she stood up from the couch and wiped under her eyes once again.

"I don't really see that this is a funny moment," said Remus, "I just bore my heart to you, and you find it funny? Ouch."

"No, Remus, I'm not laughing at you. I'm only laughing because I feel the same way about you, but when you ran away from me I was afraid you could see that I liked you and ran so you wouldn't have to deal with my awkward confession and your subsequent rejection of me," said Hannah, laughing again.

"You really do? You feel the same way about me?" asked Remus in a wondrous tone.

"Of course I do, Remus. I've thought about you for so long, watched you from a distance, but I never imagined you could care for me," said Hannah.

"How could I not care for you Hannah? You're beautiful inside and out. Your smile makes me feel better even when I'm tired and not feeling well. I've watched you from a distance as well, and I've imagined kissing you so many times," said Remus, a blush coming over his cheeks.

"Right, I think that's my cue to leave. Er, I'm not really sure why I even stayed at all. I'll just be going now," said James.

"James," said Hannah before he could leave.

"Yeah?" asked James, turning back toward her.

"I just wanted to say that I think you and Lily are so good together. I've never seen her happier than she is now. Just don't do anything to screw it up," said Hannah playfully.

"Right, I'll try not to screw it up," said James, "It really is good to see you back here, but I'll let Remus express that to you. See you both later." James exited the door and as soon as he did Remus crossed the distance between him and Hannah and pulled her into his arms.

"I really have missed you, Hannah," said Remus.

"Can I tell you something strange, Remus?" asked Hannah.

"You can tell me whatever you want," said Remus happily.

"I dreamed about you while I was in my coma," said Hannah, "you said you were sorry about how you acted that day, and that you wanted me to wake up, and well, you said something else that was pretty odd. At first I thought it all really happened until you said that you were a, well, a werewolf," said Hannah.

Remus stiffened around Hannah, realizing that in this moment he had to choose whether to tell her the truth or to lie to her. He took a deep breath and looked down at her. "I think we should probably talk, Hannah."

"What about?" asked Hannah, wondering at the sudden change in topic.

"Let's go sit, shall we?" asked Remus.

"Alright," said Hannah, allowing him to pull her to the couch.

"I don't want you to be frightened about what I am going to say. You are perfectly safe at the moment," said Remus. "And I want you to know that I won't think badly of you if you decide that you cannot associate with me anymore. I would completely understand if you wouldn't want to be involved with someone like me. Believe me, society certainly does not make it easy-"

"What are you saying, Remus?" asked Hannah. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked up at him.

"I'm saying that what you remember from your coma wasn't a dream. It all happened. I did tell you that I am a werewolf because it's true. I am a werewolf," said Remus ashamedly.

"Oh," said Hannah.

"I-I'll leave if you want," said Remus, starting to stand up.

"Hold on, Remus. I'm not rejecting you. I'm just trying to process what you just told me," said Hannah. Hannah looked over at Remus, at his nervous and shame-filled expression and her heart melted for him all over again. Sure, he turned into a werewolf once a month in the presence of a full moon, but he was still the kindest, gentlest, most handsome man she had ever met, and she wasn't about to throw all that away because of something that he couldn't control.

"I know it's a lot to take in," said Remus. "But like I said, you don't need to worry that you'll upset me. Being with me will only make your life more complicated, and the last thing I want to do is anything that will upset you. I care for you a lot, Hannah, and I would never do anything to cause you pain. So if you want to leave and pretend this whole thing never happened, I completely understand-" Remus was blithering away again, completely unaware that Hannah was trying to get his attention. So she did the one thing she knew would get him to stop talking. She crossed the small distance between them and kissed him innocently on the lips. She enjoyed the shocked look on his face as she pulled back.

"Why would I ever care about what anyone else had to say? I care about you too, Remus, and I want to be with you," said Hannah.

"Are you sure? You do know that as a werewolf it will be nearly impossible for me to get a job in the wizarding world after graduation. And people may look at you differently if they find out that you're dating a werewolf. And I'll always have to be gone on a full moon, even if it falls on our anniversary, or your birthday," said Remus.

"Remus, I don't care about all of that. Besides, I can think of a few things I would prefer for your lips to do than tell me why I shouldn't be with you," said Hannah.

"You're a lot less shy about physical displays of affection than I imagined," said Remus.

"That's only because I've been wanting to kiss you for so long," said Hannah.

"Well, don't let me keep you waiting any longer," said Remus as he leaned down and pulled her in for another kiss.

Lily took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before she went back out to the common room to meet James. Her hair and outfit were now clean, but she was still feeling a bit shaky after the events of the night. But now all she wanted to do was to relax and spend some time with her boyfriend. And maybe some firewhisky would help her to forget all the bad things for the night.

"I'm ready," said Lily as she walked to the couch that James was sitting on.

"No, I don't think you are yet. There's one thing you forgot," said James as he rose and pulled her close to his body.

"And what is that?" asked Lily breathlessly as she stared up into his gorgeous eyes.

"You forgot to let me kiss you senseless," said James in a minty breath as he lowered his lips to hers. She relaxed into the kiss and truly allowed him to kiss her senseless. Everything else melted away except his arms, lips, and tongue. She no longer felt afraid or angry. All she felt was a massive wave of love washing over her. During their kiss she could see everything, she could see herself walking across a bright, sandy beach in a long white gown, she could see James lounging beside her without a shirt, she could see him crawling on top of her, she could see kids and grandkids. She knew in that moment that there would never be another guy who could take his place in her heart. He was it for her, her one true love.

"Lily," James sighed as he pulled back, "I love you."

"I love you, James," said Lily. She leaned into him again as she felt a bit dizzy and weak in the knees.

"Are you ready to go to the party?" asked James in a husky voice.

"Well, let's at least make an appearance," said Lily regretfully, "we wouldn't want you to completely miss your last Halloween party at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, we can go for a few minutes. And if we happen to want to leave a bit early," said James, smiling sexily at her.

"If we get a bit bored at the party," said Lily, smiling back.

"We can always come back here and find something better to do," said James.

"I'm sure we could think of something," said Lily.

"Ok," said James, taking a few steps back. "I need to not look at you right now, because if I do, we'll never leave this room. You look beautiful as an angel, by the way."

"And you look way too sexy as Van Helsing," said Lily. "I didn't know you read _Dracula_."

"I did take Muggle Studies for many years," said James, "It was the only book that looked interesting when the professor assigned for us to read a muggle novel."

"Ah, I might just have to give you a few books to read. I think you might like them," said Lily.

"How about you wait until after we've graduated? I have about as many books as I care to look at right now," said James.

"Sure," said Lily.

"Well, let's go," said James.

They walked down the corridor and down many staircases to reach the doors to the castle. Once they had snuck out James pulled Lily across the lawns toward the cave that they had turned into a party center. The walk didn't take very long, and soon they were entering the cave.

"We set up a bit of a haunted house section at the entrance. If you're scared just hold onto my hand and close your eyes," said James in her ear.

They walked forward and immediately their vision was obscured by thick fog. Lily could hear the howl of wolves, the hoot of owls, and screams. As she walked forward she felt the temperature drop. Suddenly a bat swooped down in front of her and she screamed and clutched onto James who was kind enough to see if she was alright before he began laughing. They walked for a few more seconds as the sounds increased before a man wandered into her path with a hatchet stuck into the top of his head. He screamed at her, "You took my eyeballs! Where are my eyeballs?" Light flashed across his face to show empty sockets where his eyes should have been. Suddenly Lily felt something slimy appear in the hand James wasn't holding and she screamed again. The man lurched forward and grabbed the slimy things out of her hand, heedless to Lily's panicked screams. He held the slimy things, which turned out to be eyeballs, up to the light and stuffed them back into their sockets. Then he disappeared into the fog.

"You ok?" James whispered.

"Yeah," said Lily, although she was shaking slightly, anticipating the next thing that would pop out at her.

They hadn't walked for too long before a crazed woman jumped out in front of Lily. "What a lovely head of hair you have, my dear. You wouldn't mind if I just chopped it off, would you?" asked the woman in a deranged voice. She pulled a long machete out from nowhere and raised it above her head. Lily tried to pull away but she was suddenly stuck in place. Before she could do anything the blade came down on her neck and when she opened her eyes she looked all around, panicked to see that when she looked down she saw grass right beneath her. She looked up and saw her headless body. She screamed a blood-curdling scream before James squeezed her arm and she blinked. Once she opened her eyes again everything was back to normal.

"It's alright, Lily. It was a spell. It wasn't real," said James.

"Are you trying to kill me?" asked Lily. She felt her heart beating quickly in her chest.

"I'm so sorry. We should have just skipped ahead to the party. Do you want to do that now?" asked James.

"How much is left?" asked Lily.

"Just one more thing," said James.

"Ok, I can do it," said Lily. "Let's go."

After a few more seconds of walking they came upon a clearing that was free of fog. Lily was on edge, waiting for something to pop out at her, but nothing did. For several minutes they kept walking until all of a sudden Lily stepped down and felt herself sinking. Her legs were sinking in the ground beneath her. She struggled to get out, but the more she struggled, the quicker she sank. Soon she had sunk up to her waist, and then her shoulders, and then she had completely sunk into the mud. It was covering over her head. Lily closed her eyes and when she opened them everything was dark. She reached a hand out and found that there was a silky material not too far from her face. She pushed on the silk and found that there was a flat, hard surface just beneath the silk. Suddenly a tiny bit of light came into her vision and she screamed. At first it took a few moments for her brain to figure out where she was, but once she focused she realized she was in a coffin. She screamed and beat at the wooden ceiling but it was hard and didn't give. She screamed and kicked and beat at the top frantically. Although it seemed like a long time, after only thirty seconds the lid lifted off and James was standing before her, offering her a hand to help her up. She glared at him and stood up on her own, seeing that they were now in a cavernous room that was super crowded with people dancing and drinking. Dance music was pulsing through the cave and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

"Ah, Lily, care for a drink?" asked Sirius, who was standing by a massive punchbowl that was set up before a row of coffins just like the one Lily had just emerged from.

"Sirius, I think she needs a moment," said James.

"No, I need a drink after what you just put me through," said Lily. Lily took the orange-looking drink from Sirius and gulped it down quickly, feeling the burn as it went down her throat.

"I'm really sorry, Lily, but I did ask if you wanted to skip the next part," said James.

"And had I known I would be banging on the lid of a coffin I would have said yes," said Lily. "That really wasn't funny. I was terrified."

"I'm sorry. I promise that I will tell you everything planned for the next Halloween party the Marauders throw and let you decide if you want to go through it or skip it entirely. Am I forgiven?" asked James.

"Almost," said Lily.

"And what more do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?" asked James.

"Why don't we start with dancing and then we'll figure the rest out," said Lily.

"That sounds perfect to me," said James as he led her to the dance floor and pulled her into his arms. Once again Lily relaxed in his arms. She let him lead her through a slow, gentle dance despite the fast tempo music that was playing.

"So am I forgiven yet?" asked James after a few minutes of dancing.

"Almost," said Lily again.

"And what do you want me to do now?" asked James.

"Well, you could kiss me," said Lily, smiling up at him.

"Why didn't I think of that?" asked James as he smiled down at her and pulled her even closer, lowering his lips to hers.

The kiss only lasted a few minutes before Lily felt someone slam into her from behind. Lily pulled away from James and turned just in time to see Carrie grab her arm and drag her away from James.

"Oww, Carrie, what are you doing?" asked Lily, peering angrily at Carrie who had a sour expression on her face.

"So you know why my ex-boyfriend Dave broke up with me, huh? He couldn't put up with me, right?" snapped Carrie.

"Carrie, what are you talking about?" asked Lily.

"That's what you said to me, the night we got into that big fight," said Carrie with a steely tone.

"I really don't know what you're talking about," said Lily, starting to get angry at her friend's attitude.

"Oh stop playing dumb, Lily. Merlin, you're so pathetic. Running around letting everyone lie to you," said Carrie.

"Would you just stop being cryptic and tell me what exactly you're talking about?" asked Lily.

"Carrie, that's enough," said James in a sharp voice. "I don't know what your problem is-"

"My problem? I think you should be more concerned with your problem," said Carrie, "You know, that massive lie you told when Lily woke up from her coma with a big chunk of her memory missing. It was so convenient for you, wasn't it?"

"I think you should shut up, Carrie," said James firmly.

"James, what is she talking about?" asked Lily, staring from one to the other. They were both glaring at each other.

"Oh, I don't care if you tell her about our massive fight at the beginning of the term and that we hadn't been friends all year until she woke up from her coma, because I don't want to have a self-important, nosy, self-righteous slag for a friend anyway," said Carrie. "Oops, did I say that all out loud? Oh well, now she knows."

"We, we fought? We're not friends?" asked Lily as she stared at Carrie.

"Oh, looks like she's catching on. Should we tell her your secret now?" asked Carrie, glaring at James.

"James, I don't know what's going on. What is she talking about?" Lily asked James.

"Let's go, Lily. I'll explain everything as soon as we get back to our common room," said James, starting to tug her towards the exit of the cave.

"So you're just going to pull her away so she can't hear the truth? Are you going to tell her more lies so that she'll stay with you?" asked Carrie, stepping in front of them.

"Carrie, get out of our way," growled James.

"Why, you don't want me to tell your _girlfriend_ how you two got together?" asked Carrie.

"James, how, how did we get together?" asked Lily, feeling a sinking in the pit of her stomach.

"Lily, we'll talk about it as soon as we get back to our common room, like I said," said James.

"No, I want you to answer me right now," said Lily, planting her feet on the ground and pulling her hand out of James' grasp.

"Lily, we should go somewhere private where we can talk. It's much too noisy and there are way too many people here. Let's go somewhere else," said James.

"He's just afraid to tell you that he made your whole relationship up, Lily," said Carrie loudly over the music.

"What?" asked Lily equally as loudly, looking back and forth between Carrie and James.

"Lily, you have to understand," said James.

"So it's true?" asked Lily.

"You're not listening to me, Lily. There are things you need to understand about our relationship before your accident," said James.

"Like the fact that you hated him for six years as he constantly embarrassed you by continuously asking you out in very public ways, and for being, as you said, 'an arrogant toe-rag'," said Carrie.

"Carrie, I said shut up. This doesn't concern you," bellowed James.

"You lied to me, James? This whole time we've been together has been a lie. Our whole relationship has been a lie?" screamed Lily. As she yelled at him suddenly she remembered years and years of times she yelled at him. She remembered the numerous times he asked her out and how it made her blood boil. She remembered how he arrogantly fluffed up his hair and played catch with a snitch. As she came out of her flashback she stared at James with contempt.

"Lily, come on. Before your accident you were trying to apologize to me. You learned quidditch so you could win me over," said James. "So I may have lied, but if you hadn't been injured, we would have gotten together anyway."

"And why the bloody hell would I ever apologize to you? As far as I can see, you're just as arrogant and insufferable as you've always been," spat Lily.

"Lily, please. Let me explain. Let's talk about this," pleaded James.

"You're seriously deluded if you think for one second that I will let you explain anything," said Lily.

"Don't let him lie to you any more, Lily, he never cared for you. It was all a game to him. He wanted to see how long he could string you along. You're now the laughing stock of the entire school," said Carrie.

"Lily, that's not true," said James.

"How do I know you're not lying to me, James," said Lily. Her brain betrayed her and she suddenly remembered kissing James, him comforting her just a few hours ago, kissing on the quidditch pitch, flying together. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that it had all been a game to him. He had been toying with her.

"Because I would never do that to you, Lily. I love you."

"Look, he's just trying to mess with you some more. He doesn't love you," said Carrie.

"I don't know if he's telling the truth or not, Carrie, but I do know that you're a waste of my time, so why don't you just leave. If we're not friends then why don't you just go away?" asked Lily.

"Oh, I will," said Carrie, "you just forgot something."

"What's that?" asked Lily scathingly.

"This," said Carrie as she took a cup full of pumpkin juice off of the table and threw the juice all over Lily's face. As the pumpkin juice ran down her face Lily remembered her fight with Carrie. She remembered the Great Hall full of students, Carrie's horrible comments, and their hitting and scratching fight.

"We're not friends," said Lily simply.

"That's right, we're not. So are you going to just stand there?" asked Carrie.

"No, I'm not going to just stand here," said Lily, wiping as much of the juice off of her face as she could before turning back toward Carrie and rushing at her. She pulled back her fist and sent it flying toward Carrie. "I'm going to beat the stupid out of you."

"You are such a waste of space," hurled Carrie as she lunged at Lily, fists flying all over the place.

"Sirius!" James screamed.

"What?" said Sirius, who was walking towards all the noise anyway. "What's going on?"

"Carrie and Lily are fighting," said James.

"Again? Chick fight!" said Sirius happily.

"You know what we have to do, right?" asked James.

"Why, I think everyone's enjoying it," said Sirius, pointing to all the people who were crowded around, watching.

"Sirius!" James said.

"Fine, but you get Carrie this time. I'm not getting kneed by her again," said Sirius.

"Fine, just grab Lily and get her out of here," said James tiredly.

"Aye, Aye Captain," said Sirius as he dove through the growing crowd and grabbed Lily around the waist. Lily kicked and screamed, but Sirius just threw her over his shoulder and made a beeline for the exit. He was halfway to the castle before he let her down again.

"If I let you down do you promise you won't run back to the party?" asked Sirius.

"No, that slag was wasting my time," said Lily. "I'm too good to waste my time hitting her."

"Exactly, so let's head back to the castle. I'm sure James will be back soon," he said.

Lily took a deep breath, trying to salvage as much of her control so that she didn't start weeping on the spot. "Why would I care what Potter does?" Lily asked sharply.

"What exactly happened at the party?" Sirius asked in dread of what he would hear.

"Lily, wait," said James as he ran across the lawn toward her.

"James, I swear to Merlin that I will hex you if you come after me," screamed Lily.

"Lily, you can't believe everything Carrie said. Not all of it was true. You have to believe me," said James. He tried to get in front of her and block her path but she kept dodging him.

"Oh I don't believe everything she said, but I know that it is true that I hated you for years before my accident," said Lily.

"But you wanted to get together with me. You liked me," said James. "Don't you remember that?"

"No, I don't. The last thing I remember is screaming at you in Diagon Alley before the term started," said Lily.

"But Lily, you came to like me. I changed. Tell her Sirius," begged James.

"It's true Lily, you were trying to win him over before your accident," said Sirius.

"And why would I believe you, either. You lied to me, too. You went along with James' plan to lie to me and tell me we were a couple when I woke up," said Lily.

"Oh, so that's what the fight was about," said Sirius with a frown.

"As I recall, this was all your idea," said James angrily, "as you can see it's worked out so well."

"Er, yeah, I'm just going to go back to the party," said Sirius, "see you later."

"Thanks, mate," said James sarcastically. "You're a real help."

While James and Sirius had been talking Lily had begun walking towards the castle again. James went after her and reached her just before she pulled the door to the castle open. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him.

"Let go of me, Potter," Lily screamed as she tried to kick his shins.

"Lily, just let me talk with you," said James.

"I really don't want to hear anything you have to say," said Lily, "It's been a really long day and I just want to go to bed."

"Lily, please, please listen to me," said James desperately.

"I really can't take it right now. If you care for me at all you'll just let me go," said Lily.

James sighed and dropped his hand from her shoulders. He watched miserably as she walked away from him, her shoulders hunched up around her ears and a miserable sniffling noise trailing after her. He followed her at a distance to make sure that she was alright, and only entered the common room after a few minutes. When he walked into the common room it was empty and Lily's door was shut. James threw himself down on the couch and tried not to think about his disastrous night.

* * *

AN: Well, I really hope you enjoyed the chapter even though I'm sure it may have frustrated you a bit. Sorry...Lily and James are just being so annoying, aren't they? As always, I would love any feedback, suggestions, comments, questions, or really any words you would like to send me. You could just send me a review that has nothing to do with the chapter. Perhaps a fun fact. Did you know that a gold fish would be white if it was left in a dark room all of its life? At least that's something I vaguely remember reading in a fun facts book years ago. So really, I just want to hear something from you.

Thank you again for being awesome reader! I can't wait for the next chapter which should be up some time next week.

Love you all, and happy fanficing!

Littlemisskrissy


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